The Marauders
by KimTomPW
Summary: This is how I believe James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, and Severus's time at Hogwarts would've gone.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

The Marauders

Chapter 1 The First Meeting

September 1, 1971

The scarlet steam engine of the Hogwarts Express sat stationary on platform nine and three quarters as students from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry started to board it.

"… I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen…"

A red haired girl with brilliant emerald eyes was pleading with her older sister about something with their parents a small ways away, looking around in amazement.

"I'll never forgive you," the sister called Tuney retorted.

A boy with black, greasy shoulder link hair was staring at them in interest with his parents. He mostly resembled his mother.

Some ways away from that scene, a boy with untidy black hair and glasses was allowing his mother to kiss his cheek.

"You're going to have a brilliant time at Hogwarts," the boy's father said, placing his hand on his shoulder.

A few feet away from them stood a family of four.

"Make us proud," the mother said to the older of the two boys.

She had no love in her voice. It was like she didn't care that she wouldn't be seeing her son until the Christmas holidays.

"Yes, Mother," the boy nodded.

His tone had been nonchalant and uncaring, like he was already used to this kind of treatment. The boy then ran a hand through his semi-long, black wavy hair.

"Are you sure Professor Dumbledore's all right with me…"

A boy with sandy hair was looking intohis mother's eyes, looking absolutely terrified.

His mother bent down to her son's level and took him in her arms and said, "Of course he is, darling."

"I'm scared," a boy with blond headed boy was telling his mother.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends at school, pumpkin," the mother assured her son.

About an hour later, the greasy haired boy was running through the corridor of the train, looking for something, or someone. He stopped when he found the red haired girl with the boy in glasses and the other boy with curly hair.

"I don't want to talk to you, Severus," the girl said as she crossed her arms and looked out the window.

"Why not?" the boy called Severus asked as he sat across from her.

The two boys were trying not to eavesdrop, but it was not to hear them.

"My sister hates me," the girl snapped, finally turning to face Severus. "Petunia knows we saw the letter from Dumbledore."

This time, the boy in glasses chanced a glance towards the pair as Severus asked, "And?"

"She's my sister," the girl cried out, clearly not caring that there were two others in the compartment that could hear her.

"Come on, Lily," Severus said with a sigh. 'We're finally going to Hogwarts."

Lily took a deep breath.

"Yeah, you're right," she finally replied, trying not to smile, but failed.

Severus could help but smiling now that Lily was.

"I hope you're in Slytherin," he told her.

"Slytherin?" the boy with glasses asked, unable to stay quiet now "Surely you can't be serious."

The boy sitting across from him laughed and asked, "No, I'm Sirius. Remember, James?"

"You sure are," James said, laughing along with Sirius. He stopped himself and then turned back to Severus and Lily. "Anyway, I think I'd leave if I was sorted into Slytherin, wouldn't you?"

Sirius's eyes grew as James looked at him.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin," he said, looked down, so he hadn't seen Snape look at him with interest.

"You're joking," James said in shock. He hadn't been expecting that. "And you seemed to be all right."

As Sirius looked back up, he laugh and said, "Maybe I'll be the first not to. Where do you think you're going?"

"Gryffindor, like my dad," James declared proudly. Snape made a noise, which caused James to turn to him. "Something wrong with that?"

"Well, if you want to be brawny than brainy…" Severus began before he was cut off.

"And since you appear to be in either, where do you think you're going?" Sirius asked.

Severus stood up, but Lily took ahold of his arm before anything happened, and said, "We're going to find another compartment."

"Bye, Snivellus," one of the boys said, though Lily couldn't tell as her and Severus left.

Lily peaked into one compartment and said, "This compartment looks empty enough," though this compartment also held two boys.

"Hel… hello," the mousy looking boy greeted them.

"Do you mind if we join you?" Lily asked, pointing to herself and Severus.

"No, not at all," the boy with sandy blond hair said with a smile, though it looked somewhat forced.

"Thanks," Lily replied, smiling also.

"I'm Remus," the boy said, extending his hair very warily. "Remus Lupin."

Lily nodded and shook his hand. Severus did the same.

"Peter Pettigrew," the other boy said, although he made no attempt to shake their hands.

Lily cleared her throat and said, "I'm Lily Evans."

"Severus Snape," Severus replied, soundly a little distant.

There was a loud pause before Remus broke it, asking, "So, the people in the other compartment were too loud?"

"You could say that," Lily said, really not wanting to talk about it. "I just know their names are James and Sirius."

"Does James have glasses?" Remus asked.

Lily looked at him curiously.

"Yes," replied that he knew him. And then she added, "And he has untidy black hair."

Remus's expression told Lily they were indeed talking about the same boy. She wondered what he knew about him. Being a Muggleborn, she really wasn't aware about what was going on in the Wizarding World. Severus was looking now looking over at them, apparently interested, though he wasn't saying anything about it.

"Why would James Potter and Sirius Black be talking to each other?" Remus asked more to himself than to Lily.

"That is odd," Peter agreed, finally speaking up.

Severus was still looking like he wasn't going to say anything.

"What's odd about it?" Lily asked, still confussed.

"Well, you can say the Potters and the Blacks don't get along," Remus said, though there was clearly more behind his statement.

"So, what House do you think you'll be in?" Peter suddenly asked, clearly not wanting to talk anymore about James and Sirius. Lily gave Severus a nervous glance. "Did I say something?"

"We left because of that topic," Lily explained.

"Sorry," Peter apologized as he looked down in embarrassment.

"Don't be," Lily told him, leaning over and touching his knee. "I'm sure you won't be as cocky as James was about it. I personally have no idea where I'll be. I'm a Muggleborn you see."

"Severus?" Remus asked.

"Slytherin," was all he said.

"I see," Remus replied, trying his best to act natural. "Well, Peter and I don't really know."

"We'll all find out here soon," Lily said with a smile.

It was dark when the rain finally stopped.

AN:

I hope you enjoy this!


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 2 The Sorting

September 1, 1971 (CONT)

Rubeus Hagrid, the Game Keeper, was calling the first years as the students began exiting the train.

"Don't be shy, now. Firs' years, follow me," Hagrid called out.

All the first years started getting into boats that would take them across the lake to take them to the castle while the rest of the students got into carriages that pulled themselves.

"Do you really there's a Giant Squid down there?" Lily asked as she got into one of the boats with Severus.

She turned as Peter gasped and took a step back. He hadn't given any thought about what lived in the lake. Lily had been reading _Hogwarts: A History _to prepare herself, though Severus had told her thinks also.

"Gi…giant Sq…squid?" Peter asked, stuttering as he did so.

Severus was suppressing his grin at the look or terror on Peter's face.

"Lily, you shouldn't have said that," Remus said, wrapping an arm around Peter to try calming him down.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Peter," she apologized as she stepped out of the boat.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked.

Lily turned to him and said, "Peter and I will take a separate boat. You and Remus can take this one. Is that all right with you, Remus?"

"No problem," he said, knowing he wasn't going to be able to win if he tried objecting to it.

Peter began shaking violently as he sat in the next boat with Lily.

'Look at me,"Lily told Peter, taking hold of his shoulders. "Nothing's going to happen. Have you seen the size of the Game Keeper?" They both glanced over at Hagrid. "He won't let anything bad happen."

"Right," Peter said, and then he closed his eyes.

Peter kept his eyes tightly shut throughout the entire boat ride.

"You can open your eyes, now," Lily said with a soft laugh as the boat stopped.

Severus and Remus had waited for them. They then followed the rest of the first years into the castle.

"They're all yours Professor McGonagall," Hagrid told the woman standing at the foot of the stairs waiting for them.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said.

She wore emerald robes and a tight bun covered at pointed witch's hat.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. I'll be your Transfiguration teacher here," Professor McGonagall started to say as kids began to whisper amongst each other. "Now, before we enter the Great Hall to have you all sorted, there are a few things you need to know."

The whispers then stopped.

"Your House will be like your family while you're here," Professor McGonagall continued. "Points are given to your House for your achievements and taken away for bad behavior. There are four Houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Now, if you would follow me."

Lily and Severus glanced over at each other as they entered the Great Hall.

"Now, when I call your name, I want you to come up here, and I'll put the Sorting Hat on your head."

Sirius looked down, knowing he was probably going to be the first to get sorted.

Sure enough, Professor McGonagall looked up from the scroll in her hands and called out, "Black, Sirius."

Sirius walked up and immediately closed his eyes as he sat on the stool, so he didn't see all the people at the Slytherin table staring at him.

"Well, this is a first," the hat said.

"Sorry?" Sirius asked, but the hat quickly yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!"

His eyes opened in shock. As Sirius headed the hat back to Professor McGonagall, his eyes caught the sight of his cousin, Narcissa Black.

"Evans, Lily," Professor McGonagall called out ten minutes later.

Her legs were trembling as she sat on the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Severus gave a small groan as the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. Lily turned her back when she sat down next to Sirius at the Gryffindor table.

"Lupin, Remus," Professor McGonagall called.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus's eyes grew in shock. He didn't think he was a Gryffindor at all. Professor McGonagall had to clear her throat to get Remus's attention. He shook his head

"Pettigrew, Peter," Professor McGonagall called.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Severus was getting steadily more annoyed that everyone he had met on the train, including Lily, had been sorted into Slytherin. He was sure that Sirius, at least, would have been in Slytherin.

"Potter, James," Professor McGonagall called.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily rolled her eyes as James looked over at Sirius and gave him two thumbs up.

"Snape, Severus," Professor McGonagall called.

Lily gave him an assuring smile when their eyes met.

"SLYTHERIN!"

An older boy with long, blond hair and badge on his chest patted Severus on the back. Lily let her head fall, disappointed she wasn't going to be in the same House as her best friend.

"May I have your attention, please?" Professor McGonagall asked. All the students became silent. "The Headmaster would like to say a few words."

"Good evening to all of you," Professor Dumbledore said after standing up. "To our returning students, welcome back. To our new students, welcome to Hogwarts."

xxx

Remus was slowly making his way out of the Great Hall, still not believing he had been sorted into Gryffindor.

"Mr. Lupin."

He turned and found Professor McGonagall walking towards him.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" Remus asked.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office," she said.

Remus looked towards the staff table and saw that the headmaster was gone. Without saying anything about it, he followed Professor McGonagall.

He took a deep breath as Professor McGonagall knocked on Professor Dumbledore's door.

"Come in," Professor Dumbledore told them. "Minerva… Remus. Good evening."

"Good evening, Professor," Remus nodded to the elderly man.

Professor Dumbledore gave a Professor McGonagall a nod, and she left them.

"Your accommodations have been set," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Oh," Remus replied, realizing now why he had been called in the first place. "Thank you."

He looked down, feeling really dim-witted.

"Is something bothering you, Remus?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

Being addressed by his first name by his Headmaster comforted him for some reason. It was like he didn't see him as he saw himself. A monster.

"What if someone finds me out? Everyone will think I'm a monster. I am a monster," Remus said, giving a nervous laugh.

Once a month, he turned into a Werewolf. He never though he would be able to tell anyone.

"Remember who you are, Remus," Professor Dumbledore said, getting up from his desk and walking over to Remus to put a hand on his shoulder. "You are Remus John Lupin."

"I wish I could see it the way you do, sir," Remus replied with a sigh.

He wished he could see himself as a normal person, but he wasn't, and he never would be in his opinion.

"You will in time," Professor Dumbledore assured him. "Now, off to bed with you. You must be well rested for your first day tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Professor," Remus said.

Professor McGonagall was waiting for him when left the office. She told him where the boys' dormitory was when they entered the Gryffindor common room and told him goodnight.

"Well, it looks like it's us four in here," James said as Remus walked in.

Remus was surprised that nothing was said about him arriving late.

"Appears that way," Sirius replied, getting into his bed.

"Well, we better get in bed," Remus said.

With that, he got dressed into his night clothes and went to bed.

AN:

None.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 3 Worst Day

September 2, 1971

It was the first day of classes. James walked over to Sirius's four-poster bed to wake him up. Remus and Peter were already up.

"Good morning," James said, tapping Sirius's shoulder.

Sirius groaned and pulled the covers back over his face.

"You're not a morning person then, I take it," James said with a laugh as

Remus and Peter also laughed before they left the room.

"I just don't want to go down to the Great Hall and have a Howler waiting for me," Sirius said with a yawn as he finally sat up in his bed.

"Why do you say that?" James asked, sitting next to Sirius.

"I'm a Black! I just broke tradition here," Sirius said in a panicked voice.

He got up and started to get dressed as fast as he could.

"So what you said on the train is true?" James asked, standing up.

"Yes," Sirius nodded with a sigh. "It's not that I'm not happy I'm in Gryffindor, but my parents will surely not be."

"Yeah, but I don't think they'll actually send you a Howler," James told Sirius as they walked down the stairs to the common room.

"You don't know my parents," Sirius said as he, James, Remus, and Peter exited the portrait hole.

"You got a point there," James agreed as they walked down the stairs, "but Sirius, you're going to have to go to the Great Hall some time to eat."

"Oh, all right," he said, though he was clearly going towards the Great Hall anyway, now.

As they sat and ate breakfast, Sirius kept staring up, waiting for the owls to come with the mail. He groaned when they did, and sure enough, a red envelope landed in front to him.

"What did I tell you?" Sirius said with a groan.

He held the envelope as if it was about to explode, which was a very good possibility if he didn't open it in time.

"Quick, follow me," James said, grabbing Sirius's arm and began running towards the entrance.

Sirius took the letter and followed James out into the entrance hall.

"It might not be so bad," James said thoughtfully as Sirius stared at the envelope in his hand.

"Thanks," Sirius replied with a nervous laugh.

"SIRIUS BLACK," Sirius's mother shirked after he opened it. It shocked Sirius so much that he ended up dropping it. "YOUR FATHER AND I ARE SO DISAPOINTED IN YOU! YOU HAVE SHAMED THE FAMILY NAME! YOU SHOULD FEEL ASHAMED YOU'RE IN THAT FILTHY HOUSE!"

Sirius bent down and picked up the letter with trembling hands.

"Maybe no one heard," James told him.

Sirius looked over at him, his face expressionless.

"Don't kid yourself," he replied.

"Come on," James said with a sigh. He wrapped and arm around Sirius's shoulder. "Let's get to Transfiguration."

"Yeah," Sirius nodded. "I don't want to see the look on Professor McGonagall's face if we're late."

While walking to class, Sirius realized there was only person could have told his parents this quickly, and that was his cousin, Narcissa.

xxx

James laid flat on his back on his bed when their first full day at Hogwarts had ended, and said in an exhausted voice, "What a first day."

"I'd say," Peter agreed, mimicking James's actions.

"Potions was absolutely horrible," Sirius said as he untied his tie.

James and Peter began to get ready for bed as Sirius also began to.

"Old Slughorn seemed to take a liking to Evans, though," Remus said, dissecting the events of the day out loud.

"While, she did seem to know a lot about the Potions we were discussing," Sirius said, getting into bed.

"Well, goodnight," Remus replied with yawn after getting in his night clothes.

Peter had already begun to snore.

"See you in the morning," James said.

xxx

September 3, 1971

The next day found James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily in Charms with the Slytherins.

"Good morning, class," their Charm's teacher greeted the class.

He was so short that he might have, have some Goblin blood in him.

"Good morning, Professor Flickwick," the class sung in unison.

"Today, we're going to be learning the charm, Wingardium Leviosa," he told everyone as he gestured to the feathers that were in front of each of the students.

Lily and James were the first to make their feathers levitate into the air.

"Peter, no," James gasped a couple of minutes later, but it was too late.

The feather exploded in Peter's face. Instead of doing the swish and flick movement Professor Flickwick had taught them, Peter had just beagun violently shaking his wand up and down.

"Try not to set fire to the classroom next time, Pettigrew," a Slytherin told Peter as they left class.

James got in front of Peter and said, "Leave him be, would you?"

"Watch yourself there, Potter," the Slytherin replied, and he and his friends walk away.

James turned to Peter, but before he could say anything, Peter went running. James was going to tell Peter something when he went to bed that night, but Peter was already asleep.

xxx

September 4, 1971

During lunch the next day, Peter walked up to James in the Great Hall.

"James…" Peter began, not really knowing how to begin.

James turned and said, "Yeah."

Peter looked down.

"I… I just wanted to thank you for yesterday," he finally said, causing Sirius to look up from his food.

"Don't mention it," James replied.

"Yeah, but I ran before I could thank you," Peter told him.

He then turned and headed towards the end of the Gryffindor table.

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked as James turned his way, utter confusion on his face.

"I stopped some Slytherins from messing with him," James said.

"So, that's what it was?" Sirius realized.

He had only caught the ending of the confrontation.

"Yeah," James nodded, not looking at Sirius.

"Well, come on. Don't want to be late to class," Sirius said, getting up from the table.

James looked down at his watch and cursed. He hadn't noticed what time it was.

xxx

September 5, 1971

When James and Sirius got back from dinner, they noticed a lot of students gathered by the bulletin board.

"Hey, Remus," James said as he tapped the boy's shoulder. "What's going on?"

"We're having flying lessons," he told James and Sirius.

He didn't look anxious, and he also didn't look happy about this either. A big smile, however, appeared on James's face. Sirius's expression was the same as Remus's.

"F…flying?" Peter stuttered as he turned around to face them.

"Scared?" James asked, unable to hold in a small laugh at the end.

"Maybe," Peter muttered, looking away and crossing his arms.

"Don't be," Sirius said, giving Peter a smile and a pat on the back.

Remus turned back around to take a second look at the notice. When he turned back around, his expression was on the more nervous side now.

"He might have the right idea," he finally said.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked, not liking the tone of Remus's voice.

"Have you seen who we're taking the lesson with?" Remus asked.

They all turned and looked at the piece of parchment. One by one… James first, Sirius, and then finally Peter, gasped at who they would be taking the lesson with.

"You got to be joking," Sirius murmured. And then it became louder as he yelled. "Slytherins!"

"So, when's the lesson?" James asked in a defeated voice as he sighed.

"The twelfth," Remus answered.

AN:

There will be more Lily and Severus, believe me.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 4 The Flying Lesson

September 11, 1971

James noticed Lily was pacing around the common room the night before their flying lesson. No matter how hard he tried not to watch, he just couldn't help but direct his eyes in her direction every so often.

"What's the matter with you, Evans?" James finally asked Lily when he finally couldn't take it any longer.

She looked over at him in shock as if they had never spoken to each other before. When she realized who made the comment, she frowned.

"I've never flown before, that's what," Lily snapped at James.

"Oh," James replied, looking down and adjusting himself in his chair, feeling awkward for saying anything now.

"I've never flown either," Peter said to Lily.

She looked over at him and gave him a kind smile.

However, the tender moment was ruined when Sirius said sarcastically, "That's a surprise."

Some people, including James, began to laugh.

"Stop that," Remus said, sounding much older than he really was. "The last thing we need is detention right now."

"Whatever," Sirius replied; joining James at the table he was at. "You're not scared, James?"

"Hardly." James gave a small laugh after saying this. "How about you?" he asked Sirius, a little more serious then before.

"I probably don't have as much experience as you do I'm sure," Sirius admitted.

xxx

September 12, 1971

Sirius was still in bed as Remus, James, and Peter got ready the next morning for their flying lesson.

"Wake up," James yelled into Sirius ear.

Remus and Peter turned and laughed when Sirius made not movement. Sirius then groaned and turned as James poked at him.

"Come on, Sirius. We have to get down to the pitch," James said as Sirius yawned and finally got up.

Remus and Peter said bye and left the room.

"Fine," Sirius said sleepily.

James and Sirius were walking down the stairs to the common room ten minutes later.

"Don't worry, Peter," Remus said as James and Sirius joined them. "You're not going to be the only one who's not going to be able to fly."

"Yeah, but we're with the Slytherins," Peter replied, starting to panic.

"You don't have to worry about them with you, right guys?" James asked Remus and Sirius as they exited the portrait hole.

"Right," the two boys immediately replied.

They spotted Lily and Severus talking while walking to the pitch.

"How do you suppose Evans and Snape know each other?" James asked, not really knowing he was saying this out loud.

"They probably came from the same village," Remus told him.

"Good morning, class," their instructor, Madam Hooch, greeting the class as they filed into two straight lines. Gryffindors were on one side, Slytherins on the other.

"Good morning, Madam Hooch," the two groups replied in unison.

"Now, I want you to begin by going to the left side of the broom. I want you to then extend your right hand and yell up."

She looked so strict with that spiky gray hair that no one hesitated in doing what they were told to do.

"Up," everyone began to yell at their brooms.

James's broom was the first to come up. Lily rolled her eyes as James gave a cocky smile. Remus and Sirius soon followed when their broom reached their hands. Snape and Lily were one of the last people to call their brooms. Peter wasn't able to.

"Are you all right, Sirius?" James asked as they made their way back to the castle for lunch.

"Yeah, you haven't been yourself lately," Remus added.

"I'm not looking forward to going home for the holidays," Sirius replied with a sigh, not looking at them, but at the ground.

"Why not?" Peter asked, feeling like he should say something, though he realized when Sirius tensed up, that that wasn't the best question to ask.

Sirius stayed quiet long enough for them to be inside the castle before he finally replied, "My parents are all about the Pure-bloods. They want to eradicate everyone that isn't a Pure-blood."

"That's impossible," Remus said, almost laughing. "That's been getting with…"

"Don't say it," Peter gasped.

Not only would that mean Remus and Peter getting killed, but also that Sirius and James procreating with their cousins.

"That's just disgusting," James said, realizing what Remus was getting at.

More Peter had only thought it meant him being murdered.

"I need a Forgetfulness Potion," Remus said as they entered the Great Hall.

They all started laughing, Peter just because the others were.

xxx

September 27, 1971

It was an uncommonly warm day, especially for the end of September, so Sirius and James decided to go for a walk outside around the grounds.

"It feels great to be out of the castle," James said as he looked up at the sky and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Sirius replied.

James looked away from the sky and opened his eyes when he heard a familiar voice.

"Look at this," he said, tapping Sirius on the shoulder.

After Sirius's attention, James pointed to where Lily and Severus sitting on the ground by the lake.

"What are they doing?" James wondered out loud in a whisper.

"Studying I think," Sirius said, seeing that there was a book in front of them when he was able to get a better look.

"Come on, let's get a better look," James told Sirius, thinking that they still were close enough to hear them.

"How do you like Hogwarts?" Serves asked Lily.

He was looking at her, but she had her eyes on the book on front of them.

"It's all right…" Lily said with a sigh, but it sound like she had wanted to continue, but stopped herself.

"I here a but in there," Severus noted.

Lily finally looked at him.

"It's just weird without you in the same House," she explained.

"I know what you mean," Severus admitted. "I feel the same."

Sirius and James slowly backed away.

When they finally got far enough away, James stuck his finger his mouth and said, "I think I'm going to be sick,"

The funny thing was that he wasn't making fun of the situation. It had seriously made him feel gross seeing them. He wondered why it had affected him like that.

xxx

James had finally seemed to have gotten over what he and Sirius seen that early afternoon by the time night came around.

"Remus, are you feeling all right?" Peter asked, noticing he was clutching at his stomach every so often.

"I feel little sick," he admitted, "but not bad."

"Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey," Sirius suggested.

Remus looked down and nodded, knowing all too while what tonight was. With that, he left the room.

"It's going to be a Full Moon tonight," James said excitedly as he looked out the window.

Meanwhile, Remus greeted Madam Pomfrey with his arms crossed.

"Are you ready, Mr. Lupin?" she asked.

Remus just nodded.

AN:

The next chapter might be a little shorter. I'm hoping it isn't.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

AN 1:

Thank you so much to samira parsa for putting some MAJOR mistakes to me. Normally, I'd wait to change it until a do a grammar check of the whole story, but these mistakes needed to be fixed NOW. Seriously, I don't know what the matter with me. I put Professor Snape instead of Professor Slughorn, and to top it all off, I had him give five puts to Gryffindor instead of Slytherin! So, yes, I thought it needed to be fixed ASAP.

Chapter 5 Best Subjects

October 8, 1971

The marks on Remus's face were barely visible now. He claimed that he had scratched himself during the night.

"Well, I'm just glad you're feeling better," James said to Remus as they, and the rest of the school, were eating breaking in the Great Hall before their first class.

"Yeah, me too," Remus agreed.

"How long to you reckon that Whomping Willow's been here for?" Sirius asked out of he blue.

He didn't know really why he had asked it, but he had been wondering everything since he had spotted it the day of their Flying Lessons.

"Wouldn't know," Remus quickly replied, making Sirius, James, and Peter look at him with confused faces.

Remus shoved a piece of toast into his mouth and tried to avoid his friend's gazes. He wasn't about to tell them he knew exactly the reason why the Whomping Willow was there, and that that reason was him.

"Come on, we need to get to Transfiguration," Sirius said, deciding it best not to question Remus.

When they got into the class, they noticed a box of matches on each of their desk. James and Sirius looked over at each other and gave mischievous smiles.

They wiped the looks off their faces when Professor McGonagall cleared her throat as the class sat down and said, "Today, you'll be trying to change the matches that are on your desks into needles."

After a few times, James was the first to complete the task.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. Five point for Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall declared, and there was a collective groan from the Hufflepuffs that shared the class with the Gryffindors.

Sirius leaned into James and whispered in his ear, "Way to go, James."

"Thanks," he said with a smile as he glanced up to see if Professor McGonagall was watching them. Deep inside, James was really proud of himself, and he didn't want the points taken away from his House.

When Sirius tried again, his eyes grew as the match on his table turned into a needle.

"Brilliant," James smiled in approval.

The four boys stopped outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom after class that day, Peter with his head down, Remus looking at the piece of parchment in his hand with a smile.

"How do you do it?" Peter asked in a whining voice.

Remus looked over at Peter, knowing it was him Peter was referring to.

"Do what?" he asked.

"You just got perfect marks on out Defense Against the Dark Arts essay," Peter said, pointing at the parchment in Remus's hand with envy.

"It's called studying," Remus replied, though he didn't mean to sound rude about it as Sirius and James snickered a little.

"Yeah, well, even when I do study, I'm not good at anything," Peter said with a sigh.

He was surprised when Sirius walked up to him as they began walking and put a hand on his shoulder.

"There has to be something you're good at," he said.

Sirius hardly ever admitted it, but he believed in that saying that everyone is good at something, mostly because it was the one his parents hated the most. They believed that all Muggles, Half-bloods and Muggle-borns were nothing but filth.

"No, not really," Peter admitted, letting his head fall again.

"Let's get to the Great Hall," Remus said, not wanting to hear about the subject any longer.

"Yeah, I'm starving," James replied.

xxx

October 9, 1971

The next in Charms class, Professor Flickwick was handing back papers as well.

"Congratulations, Miss Evans," the tiny professor praised Lily as he handed her grades to her with a smile.

James leaned closer towards Lily when her faced beamed. He smiled when he saw her marks. Of course they were prefect.

"Perfect marks, huh, Evans?" James asked, still in his leaning position.

She ignored James, making Sirius laugh. He had to admit that James was gutsy. Sirius immediately stopped laughing as Professor Flickwick then gave them their homework and released the class.

After lunch was Potions. Professor Slughorn was having them make a boil cure potion.

"I must say, Mr. Snape," Professor Slughorn as he examined Severus's cauldron. "This is a most excellent boil cure potion. I dare say one drop would cure the entire face. Five points to Slytherin."

"Thank you, sir," Severus replied.

James took a deep breath in anger.

"That biased old…" he began to say before Remus covered his mouth.

"Shhh," Remus said.

James was very quite the rest of the class session. Sirius stopped James in the hall after class ended.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

James didn't say anything as Severus and Lily passed them.

"Evan's potion was just as well as Snape's," he said in an angry whisper.

Peter glanced over at Lily and Severus, sighed, and replied, "Well, apparently, Professor Slughorn didn't think so."

xxx

October 31, 1971

Remus had to grab his stomach again as he, James, Sirius, and Peter handed to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast.

James, noticing his friend's movement, asked, "Remus, are you all right?"

"I think I'm sick again," he said, eyes on the ground.

Sirius turned to him, confused. He couldn't believe Remus was sick again. This was the second time in a mouth.

"You got to be kidding me," Sirius said.

"At least come with us to the Great Hall for the feast," Peter pleaded.

Remus shook his head, still not looking at any of them. His hands were now permanently wrapped around his waist.

"I really don't think I can," Remus admitted.

"All right, then," James said, his voice sounding very disappointed. "Get to the hospital wing."

"I'm really sorry you guys," Remus apologized, hearing the disappointment in James's voice. He wished there was a way that he could tell them what was wrong with him.

"Fell better," Peter told Remus, pointing a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks," Remus said, trying his best now to smile.

With that, Remus went off to the hospital wing to find Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm glad we haven't caught whatever he has yet,' Sirius said as he, James, and Peter entered the Great Hall.

"Yeah, me too," James said, sounding like he was a million miles away from where he was currently standing.

"You all right there, James?" Sirius asked, noticing that his mate's mind didn't seem to be in the Great Hall.

James finally turned to Sirius as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Oh, yeah," he said.

"I know you're thinking something. What is it?" Sirius asked, causing Peter to look their way now.

Peter seemed to always feel out of place when Remus wasn't around. He had always made a point to talk to Peter when Sirius and James wouldn't.

"It's just weird. Remus was sick this time last mouth also."

"What are you trying to get at, James?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe he's homesick," he suggested.

Peter though about this, and it made since. He, also, was missing home. Maybe it was really getting to Remus then it had Peter.

"That's possible," Sirius said, looking at his empty plate on the table.

"Come on," Peter muttered under his breath, but he knew Sirius, at least, had heard him because he turned to look at him. "The food should've been here by now."

He, Sirius, and James all laughed when Sirius's stomach made a loud noise.

"I think that was my stomach agreeing with you, Peter," Sirius said, still laughing.

Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey and Remus were walking out of the castle.

"I hate lying to my friends," Remus said with his down.

"They might be more understanding than you give them credit for," Madam Pomfrey replied thoughtfully.

Remus looked up at her and gave a small smile.

"Maybe, but how can you explain that you have lycanthropy?" he asked.

He put his head and continued to follow the school nurse through the grounds.

AN 2:

I know James was a rule breaker, but this is still their first year at Hogwarts, plus, I really do think he never would lose his House point if he could avoid it.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 6 Christmas

November 1, 1971

James, Sirius, and Peter decided to visit Remus in the hospital wing the next day. They wanted to know if he was all right.

"Hi, Madame Pomfrey," Sirius said, flashing a smile, hoping that it would soften her up.

It didn't work.

"We're here to see Remus," Sirius told her.

Madame Pomfrey had been known to be overprotective about her patients.

"I'm afraid he's not up for visitors at the moment, but come by this afternoon. He should be feeling better," she said.

Peter opened his mouth to say something, but James cut him up, saying, "All right, thanks."

"I guess we'll check back during lunch," Sirius replied as he led James and Peter out.

Remus was sitting up in bed when Madame Pomfrey pulled back the draping that was concealing himself from the other patients.

"Thank you," he said; his eyes not able to look up.

"Say no more," Madam Profrey replied, picking up some ointment from Remus's bed side table. "Now, let's get those wounds healed up before they return."

As soon as James, Sirius, and Peter finished eating their lunch, they went to go visit Remus. This time, Madame Pomfrey let them in. Remus's cuts were hardly visible now thanks to the cream.

"We tried to get in earlier, but Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let us see you," Sirius said, sitting at the edge of Remus's bed.

Peter sat in the empty chair while Peter stood behind him.

"I was probably asleep," Remus said, making an excuse so that nothing seemed supisious.

"So, when are you getting out of here?" Peter asked.

"Madame Pomfrey says I'll be while enough to leave tomorrow," Remus said.

He had to smile when the three faces looking at him had smiles that reached their ears.

"Brilliant," James said.

"Yeah," Remus nodded. "It'll be nice to be back in my own bed."

xxx

December 12, 1971

With Christmas fast approaching, most of the students were boarding the Hogwarts Express to go home.

James noticed while on the ride home that Sirius was very quiet.

"I take it you're not happy about going home for Christmas holidays?" he asked.

Sirius looked from out the window to James.

"What gave it away?" he asked

Meanwhile, in another compartment, Lily had just asked Severus that same question.

He didn't answer.

"Is it really that bad at home?" Lily asked.

"You would not believe it," Severus replied, hardly ever looking at her.

One of the few times he did was when Lily laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Lily apologized. "But at least we can still see each other."

"Yes, that is something," Severus said, letting a small smile escape.

In the other compartment with James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus, Sirius looked back at James from laughing at Remus and Peter, who were now both asleep with their mouths opened.

"Is it wrong to want to stay here for Christmas?" Sirius asked James with a sigh.

"Maybe next year," James told him thoughtfully. Looking down, he added, "And maybe I'll join you."

Sirius looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks," he said.

When the train finally stopped,, it was already night.

"See you guys after the holidays," Remus told Sirius, James, and Peter when he saw his mum as they got off the train.

"Bye, Remus," the boys said as they waved goodbye.

Peter turned and saw a familiar face. His smile reached his ears.

"There's my mum," Peter declared, and he stared walking towards her.

"See you, Peter," James and Sirius called out to Peter, who turned and waved.

Sirius groaned some when he turned and saw his parents and brother staring at him.

"Wish me luck," he said, watching his mother, Walburga, his father, Orion, and brother, Regulus.

"Good luck, Sirius," James replied, placing his hand on Sirius's shoulder.

Sirius gave a small smile and headed towards his family.

Lily was looking sadly at her sister, waiting for something to be said.

"You're still not talking to me?" she asked her sister, Petunia.

Petunia just ignored her.

Back with the Black family, Regulus had just walked up to Sirius.

"How was your first term?" Regulus asked.

"It was all right," Sirius said. And then he turned more cheerful to make Regulus excited. "You'll love it, Regulus."

Remus had his head down as he and his mother walked out.

"Sweetheart, is everything all right?" Remus's mum asked. "Did you make any friends?"

"That's the thing, Mum," Remus said, taking a sigh as he looked up. "I have friends, but that's only because they don't know what I am."

"How can you be sure if you haven't told them?" his mother asked.

"That's basically what Madame Pomfrey told me as well," Remus said with a smile on his face. "I guess it's just going to take a while to gather the courage."

"If they're your real friends, they'll accept you without question," his mother replied thoughtfully.

"I hope you're right, Mum," Remus said with a sigh.

His mother smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm always right," she said.

Peter and his mother were now walking out.

"I see you made some friends," his mother said.

"Huh?" Peter asked, not really paying any attention to what his mother was saying. "Oh, yeah. They're great."

James and his parents followed a ways behind them.

"Is that a Black I just saw you with, James?" Mr. Potter asked his son.

"Yes," James nodded, not sounding at all ashamed.

"I don't think you should…" Mrs. Potter began, but James cut her off, saying, "Don't worry, Mum. He was sorted into Gryffindor."

"Really?" Mr. Potter asked, turning to think to himself. "How interesting."

AN:

Finally.


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 7 Partners

January 10, 1972

All the students were now boarding the Hogwarts Express to go back to school after Christmas holidays.

"Hi, Sirius," James greeted his friend after telling his parents goodbye.

Sirius smiled and quickly closed the gap between them.

"Hi, James," he replied.

"How was your Christmas?" James asked as they waited on Remus and Peter.

"Awful," Sirius said sorely, letting his head fall forward. "Being a Gryffindor must really have upset them." Sirius then looked back up and smiled. "The Chocolate Frogs you sent, though, helped. Thanks."

"I figured you'd be needing some cheering up," James replied with a wide smile. "Thanks for the Chocolate Cauldrons."

Before could Sirius could reply, someone began yelling, "Hey, James... Sirius!"

Sirius and James turned, and there was "Remus!"

Remus caught up with them, looked around for a moment, then he asked, "Have you seen Peter?"

Sirius and James shrugged their shoulders and began to look around as well.

"Oh, there he is," Sirius said as he finally finally spotted him. "Peter!"

"Hi, guys," Peter said, his smile brighter than the rest.

He had never really had friends before, so to be about of this so called gang was what he now lived for.

"Come on, let's find a compartment," Remus said. They walked down the corridor, but all the compartments seemed to be taken. And then Remus spotted one. "What about this one?"

"No, way," James immediately rejected after glancing into the compartment and seeing Lily Evans sitting by herself, looking out the window.

He hadn't even taken notice that Severus wasn't with her.

"It's only Evans," Sirius said, his hand already reaching for the handle to open it.

Knowing he wasn't going to win, James sighed and replied, "Fine."

Lily turned as the compartment door opened. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy as they got a better look at Lily.

"Do you mine of we join you?" Remus asked, sounding as nice as he could without sounding as shocked as he felt.

"I suppose you can," Lily said with a small sniff.

Remus took the seat next to her, knowing that he might be the only one from the four that she'd confide in, and asked, "Are you all right?"

"I... I don't know," Lily said, her eyes on the floor, so she didn't see the concerned looks they were giving her.

"Do you..." Remus began to ask, but stopped himself when Lily's piercing green eyes met his.

"I don't feel like talking right now," Lily said bluntly.

Feeling uncomfortable, Peter got up and suggested, "Maybe we should leave."

"No, please don't," Lily begged, looking at Peter with pleading eyes. He swallowed hard and sat back down. "I just had a rubbish holiday."

"Sorry," Remus apologized.

The rest of the train ride was quite quiet.

Sirius took a deep breath as he stepped off of the Hogwarts Express and said, "It's good to be back."

"You said that again," Peter replied with a wide smile.

"What is she doing?" James suddenly asked.

The other three turned to the direction James was staring at. Lily was walking over to Snape, the reason James, as well the others, thought was the cause of Lily's rubbish holiday.

xxx

February 9, 1972

The Gryffindors and Slytherins sat down in the dungeon classroom where they took Potions.

"Now," Professor Slughorn began as he came into view, which was easy with his size, "for your next Potion assignment, I need you to please get into pairs."

James groaned as he turned to Sirius, and said with a sigh, "Oh, I don't believe it."

"What?" Sirius asked as he lowered his eyebrows and frowned. "You don't want me as your partner?"

James's eyes widen as he realized what his actions must have looked like to Sirius.

"Oh, no, Sirius," he assured him. "I didn't mean that. Look who Lily chose to be with."

Sirius glanced over at the girl in question. Lily had just sat her book down next to Severus.

"Well, that's not a shocker," he said as he turned back to James. Remus and Peter didn't seem to be paying attention to them.

"I just don't get them," James said as he got the ingredients for the potion.

"And you think people understand how we're friends?" Sirius asked with a laugh as he gestured to the both of them.

"I see your point," James said, laughing as well.

Sirius pretended that he didn't notice James occasionally glancing over at Lily and Severus's table. But when James started to pure the wrong ingredient into the cauldron, Sirius had to put his foot down.

"James!" Sirius yelled. "I know you're dead awful at Potions, mate, but you're not this bloody bad."

"Sorry," James apologized, his eyes on the ground.

Sirius sighed and put a hand on James's shoulder and said, "Don't let them get to you."

xxx

Remus hadn't return to the Gryffindor common room that night.

"Where's Remus?" Peter asked as he got into bed.

"Maybe he went for a walk," Sirius said.

"Possibly," Peter replied, letting his head hit the pillow.

Meanwhile, Remus walked out of the hospital wing, followed by Madame Pomprey.

"Let's go, dear," Madame Pomfrey said, placing a calming hand on Remus's shoulder.

Remus was surprised at how easily he was able to control the pain he was having now. No one had seemed to notice his distress the past couple of days.

"What is it this time?" Madame Pomfrey asked, knowing that Remus usually made up some excuse for having to go the hospital wing.

"I never got to the common room," Remus admitted. "I sneaked out before they noticed I was gone."

"I'll think of something," Madame Pomfrey said as they walked out on to the grounds.

Remus looked over at her shock and replied, "You don't have to do that."

"I don't plan on it the next time," Madam Pomfrey told him.

Remus only nodded and followed her to the Whoping Willow.

xxx

February 10, 1972

James, Sirius, and Peter woke up to find Remus's bed still empty.

"Did Remus ever get back last night?" James asked, hoping that one of the boys had seen him.

"No, I don't think so," Peter said as they walked down to the common room. "When I got up, his bed was made and he wasn't in the common room."

Peter recalled walking down to the common room earlier that morning after seeing Remus's bed still made.

"What do you think happened?" Sirius asked as they walked out of the portrait entrance.

James thought for a moment, and then replied, "I don't know, but I have a clue."

"Where are we..." Peter began to ask, but James ignored him as he and Sirius started down the corridor that led to the hospital wing.

Remus was sitting up in bed when James, Sirius, and Peter walked in.

"What happened to you, Remus?" Sirius asked as they approched his bed.

"We've been worried sick," Peter added.

Remus looked down, feeling absolutley horrible that he didn't have the courage to tell his friends the truth.

"Sorry, guys," he apologized. "I..."

"Stop bothering this poor boy and let him eat," Madame Pomfrey cut in as she placed a plate of food on Remus's lap and a glass of Pumpkin Juice on the bedside table.

"Sorry, Madame Pomfrey, but we didn't know what to think when Remus never showed up for bed last night," James explained in the politest way he could.

"I found Mr. Lupin past out on the floor last night," Madame Pomfrey bluntly said.

Their mouth's, including Remus's, dropped. He hadn't expected her to do that for him, even though she had told him she would.

"What the..." Sirius began to ask, his eyes on the nurse. Then he turned to Remus and asked. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Remus replied.

xxx

May 29, 1972

A couple of months passed, and so did two more trips to the hospital wing for Remus.

"Come on, now, Remus," Sirius said, pulling him off from the table from where he had been studying in the Gryffindor. "Off to bed with you."

"What's going on here?" Remus asked as James and Peter joined them.

"You need your rest," Peter said as they began pulling Remus up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Remus resisted all he could, but he couldn't win.

"Rest? You do know finals are tomorrow, don't you?" he asked.

Remus had been studying for his Potion's exam when Sirius had intervened.

"Madame Pomfrey told us to make sure you were getting enough sleep," Peter said as he walked to the front of Remus's bed.

"You don't want to end up in the hospital wing again for exhaustion, do you?" James asked.

"No, but..." Remus began, filling exhausted.

He knew his friends were only thinking about him.

"Then get to bed," Sirius said, giving Remus shove so his head get the pillow.

"And what about the three of you?" Remus asked.

"You do know finals are tomorrow, don't you?" James asked.

Remus's eyes grew at James's comeback.

"Very funny," he replied. "If I have to go to bed, so do you all."

The three looked at each other for a moment, and then Sirius said, "Fair enough."

AN:

Wow! That took longer than I was planning. So sorry.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 8 Summer

June 4, 1972

It wasn't until the day before everyone left for summer holidays that the students got their marks in. Remus had been bugging Professor McGonagall about it all week before.

"I was afraid we wouldn't get our marks in time," Remus said, not even giving Professor McGonagall time to extend her hand with his marks in it.

James, Sirius, and Peter all laughed at the look their Head of House had given Remus when he had done that. Maybe a transfer to Ravenclaw was in Remus's future.

"Yeah, especially knowing our finals were later than planned," James said after he had gotten over his laughing fit.

"After what Professor Dumbledore said about that You-Know-Who person, I don't blame them," Sirius added, careful to keep his eyes on his paper.

You-Know-Who, Dumbledore said, though he had called him by the name, Lord Voldemort, had been murdering Muggle families. Sirius parents were supporters of Voldemort's doing, and Sirius didn't like this. He didn't want his friends knowing just now that his parents were apart of these killings.

"Promise you'll write this summer? All of you," Peter said.

Sirius's head lifted up, glad for the change of subject. Remus hadn't seemed to notice. His head was still berried in his paper, examining his marks vigilantly.

"Of course," James said.

Lily and Severus were outside the Great Hall. Severus with his head down, Lily with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I know you wish you could stay here," Lily said with a sigh.

"I'll survive. It's been that way for years," Severus said, referring to his parents.

However, he wasn't about to tell her how they were Voldemort supporters.

"Still..." Lily began, but Serverus cut her off saying, "I know."

Lily then made a noise-like whimper.

"Come here."

Snape's stomach lurched. He knew if there had been an audience, he would have pulled Lily away quickly, but there wasn't, so he allowed his hands to touch her back, accepting the hug.

"Promise we'll reach each other this summer."

"I promise," Severus said.

And so Snape kept his promise to Lily. They met at the park where they'd first met about every day. Petunia often followed, but only because she was told to.

xxx

June 23, 1972

It was on this day that Petunia had spoken to Lily since leaving for Hogwarts.

"What is it about that Snape kid that you like so much?" she asked as they sat on the ground at the park picking the grass.

"He is my friend," Lily explained, not looking at her sister. "He's my best friend."

"There wasn't anyone else at that school?"

Lily was surprised to feel her cheeks warm some. Why was that?

"Yes, but Severus was the first person I met that was like me."

xxx

June 24, 1972

James was sitting at his desk at his home in Godric's Hollow, running a quill over a piece of parchment quickly.

_Sirius,_

_I hope you're all right. It's reaching the mouth mark since we left Hogwarts, and I'm already going mad. I wish we could find a way to meet up. By the way, have you heard anything from Remus or Peter yet? I was thinking of also sending them an owl later on. Again, I hope you're doing well. See you September first on the train._

_James_

xxx

June 30, 1972

Sirius read James's letter over for about the hundredth time now. He couldn't believe that James was actually worried about him. And then it hit him. Had it been obvious to his friends that his mind had been other things?

"Maybe he's already gotten letters from them," Sirius said out loud.

He took another letter that was on his desk and sighed. It was Peter's letter that he had also received the same time as James's.

_James,_

_What can I say about home other than I'm bloody miserable. I hate it here now more than ever. It's like I don't even exist here. And believe me, we'll find a way to meet. It might not be this summer, but we'll do it. I can't wait to be back on the Hogwarts Express._

_Sirius_

Sirius took out another piece of parchment to write Peter back.

_Peter,_

_I miss you all, too. I'm sure we'll find a way for all of us to meet up some time next summer. See you September the first._

_Sirius_

xxx

July1, 1972

Peter was hoping to get a letter back from Sirius, but he knew owls weren't that quick. So, he decided to write to James next.

_James,_

_I was just telling Sirius that we ought to find a way during this next school term to see how we can meet during our next summer holiday. I'm sure you are already going through ideas, so I won't go further. Hope you're enjoying the holidays._

_Peter_

xxx

July 2, 1972

Sirius took a glance at the letters from James and Peter before turning to a clean piece of parchment. He was going to write to Remus... the only person he hadn't heard from yet.

_Remus,_

_I hope you're doing all right. Don't tell James I said this, but he reckons you kept getting sick because you were homesick. If no one has told you yet, we're going to try to find a way for all of us to get together next summer. See you at school._

_Sirius_

xxx

July 3, 1972

James had just gotten Peter's letter. As he read it, he laughed. That was one, and possibly the only thing, James liked about him.

_Peter,_

_Don't worry, we'll find a way. Have a great summer. I'll see you and the others on the train September first._

_James_

He looked at Peter and Sirius's letters and sighed. If he didn't get a letter from Remus soon, he'd have to write him to see if everything was okay.

xxx

July 5, 1972

Remus had just gotten Sirius's letter. He had avoided the whole writing thing, not wanting to get in too deep to where it hurt when they left him after finding out what he was. He kept his response, and the rest he'd have to make, short and to the point.

_Sirius,_

_I'm doing quite well, thanks. I hope you and rest are enjoying the holidays. I think meeting you all would be brilliant._ (He hated admitting to himself that this was true) _I'll see you all on platform nine and three quarters._

_Remus_

His message to James had been similar in content.

xxx

July 6, 1972

Peter had yet to receive anything from Remus, so he took out a piece of parchment and began writing to him.

_Remus,_

_I hope you're doing all right. You better not be sick again. I don't think Madame Pomfrey can take it anymore._

_Peter_

xxx

July 12, 1972

Remus couldn't help but smile at his letter from Peter. They were all worried about him. If only they knew the truth. He told himself that one day they would find out, and he wasn't looking forward to it.


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 9 The Youngest Black

September 6, 1972

James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus had all chatted merrily on the train ride back to Hogwarts. Sirius had told them that his younger brother, Regulus, was going to be at Hogwarts.

"He'll in up in Slytheirn, though," Sirius had said as he looked out the window and sighed.

And sure enough, Regulus was shorted into Slytherin, causing Sirius to moan at the Gryffindor table. Things for Sirius had been blurry even since then.

It was after hours, and James and Sirius were walking down the corridors because Sirius had been bored and wanted to find something to do. Anything so that he wasn't thinking about his parents and how proud they would be of Regulus when they found out he was in Slytherin, which they probably already did.

"That Filtch is getting on my last nerves," Sirius said as he and James stepped from behind a suite of armor that they had been hiding behind. "I say we teach him a lesson."

"I don't know," James surprisingly said, his eyes daring to reach the ground. "Besides, how could we go about it?"

And then a screeching sound hit their ears and they both tried covering it with their hands. Peeves, the castle Poltergeist, was now in front of them.

"Ickle Jamesy and Siriusy wants to finds trouble."

"Not your kind of trouble, Peeves," James said, grabbing Sirius's arm and pulling him past Peeves and back to Gryffindor Tower. As James and Sirius walked, Sirius looking back every now and then, Peeves flew in front of them again.

"Leave us be, Peeves," James told him. "I wouldn't be surprised if Filtch is already on his way with the noise you're making!"

"He does know how to play a good prank," Sirius commented, looking at Peeves with admiration.

"Sirius..." James said in shock.

Peeves began laughing and flew away.

"I have an idea," Sirius said.

With that, Sirius and James went to the Gryffindor common room.

xxx

September 7, 1972

Mary, a girl in Lily's year and good friend, was trying to wake a distressed Lily.

"Lily? Lily!" Mary called out.

Lily moaned and sat up in bed as she rubbed her eyes.

"Wh...What?" she asked.

"I've been trying to get you up for the last minute. What's the matter?" Mary asked. "You haven't been yourself since this afternoon. And now you're having bad dreams."

"Sorry, Mary," Lily apologized, her gaze hitting the clovers on her bed.

She hadn't expected what she had seen to get to her like it was. Surely Severus had a reasonable excuse as to why he was talking to Lucius Malfoy, the new Head Boy who was a Slytherin. Maybe it was nothing. After all, they both were in the same house.

"Oh, you saw that Snape kid," Mary exclaimed, remembering now what had happened. "Why do you talk to him anyway, Lily?"

Mary never understood her friend's taste in the greasy-haired boy, even though Lily had told her that they had been friends before starting Hogwarts.

"He's my friend. He's my best friend," Lily told her, filling her cheeks surprisingly redden.

"Excuse me?" Mary asked.

Lily looked up at Mary sympathetically.

"My best guy friend. Mary," she corrected herself. "I've known Severus since we were ten. I can't just not be friends with him because he's in Slytherin."

"I hope you're right about him," Mary sighed.

xxx

Later that night in the boys' dormitory, Sirius crept to James's bed to wake him up.

"James," he whispered as to wake the others.

James turned away with a, "Mmm..."

Sirius straightened up shook his head. James was definitely one of those people who was a deep sleeper.

"Wake up!" Sirius was a little more loudly this time.

It worked. James moaned and sat up to look with droopy eyes at Sirius.

"Sirius, what are you doing?" he asked with a yawn. He then looked down at his watch. The moon light that shown through the window was enough so James could see the time. "It's two in the morning."

"Did you forget the plan?" Sirius asked.

James couldn't help for give a little laugh as he asked, "You weren't joking?"

"No," Sirius said, trying to get James out of the bed, "now get up."

They very quietly got dressed and exited the portrait door.

"I can't believe we're doing this," James said as they walked done the corridors, though they more they walked, the more he was being to like the danger in it.

"Are you kidding?" Sirius asked. "This is brilliant."

Sirius was walking ahead of James just because James had no idea what Sirius's plan was.

"So, what exactly are we going to do, Sirius?" James asked.

James didn't like the evil smile that Sirius had on his faced when he turned to him.

"Break into Filtch's office," Sirius said.

James's eyes grew.

"Are you mental?" he asked, almost yelling it out.

"Shhh..." Sirius said as he covered James's mouth.

James then began to get nervous again about the whole thing. He only hoped Sirius knew what he was doing, and somehow, James thought he did.

"I have a bad feeling about this," James whispered.

As soon as they rounded the corner to Filtch's office, Filtch himself was right in front of them. They both let out a gasp in shock.

"What do the two of you think you're doing?" Filtch asked loudly.

He was clearly angry.

"Um..." James and Sirius began, not knowing what to do or say.

Running wasn't really a good option at this point, although the two of them felt like it.

"Follow me."

James and Sirius took one last glance at each before follow the Caretaker with their heads down.

"Don't say it," Sirius muttered softly.

"I am. I told you so," James replied.

"I told you not to say it," Sirius groaned.

They finally looked back up when Filtch stopped in front on a door and kocked. Mrs. Norris, his cat, had apparently joined them during this walk, because the cat was now in Flitch's arms. James and Sirius's eyes grew when they noticed where they were. The door opened to reveal their Head of House, Professor McGonagall.

"What is the problem, Mr. Filtch?" she asked.

She then saw James and Sirius and have a confused look.

"I caught these two walking the corridors, Professor, McGonagall."

Professor McGonagall nodded and motioned for James and Sirius to enter, leaving Filtch outside.

"You two are aware that students aren't allowed out of bed after hours, are you not?" she asked.

She had never had that much trouble with James and Sirius like this before.

"Yes, Professor," the two responded, looking down. They knew she was disappointed in them.

"Then you know I'll have to give you detention," Professor McGonagall said.

James and Sirius just nodded.

"You will be serving detention with the Game Keeper, Hagrid, tomorrow night."

xxx

September 8, 1972

It was now the next night. James and Sirius hardly talked to each other as they walked to Hagrid's hut. Peter had impressed when he found out what they had down. Remus simply had rolled his eyes, thankful he hadn't been involved.

James and Sirius swallowed hard when the door to reveal the giant man that was Hagrid.

"So, you must be Sirius and James."

"Yes, sir," they said quickly.

They looked at each other in confusion when Hagrid began laughing.

"Oh, don't be calling me sir," he replied.

"Sorry," James apologized.

"So, are you ya'll ready four yer detention?" Hagrid asked.

"I suppose," Sirius replied.

"Let's go, then."

James and Sirius stopped abruptly when Hagrid started towards the Forbidden Forest, which was prohibited for all students.

"In the Forbidden Forest?" James asked, his voice shaking.

"We're just going to collecting logs," Hagrid explained.

"Really?" Sirius asked with relief in his voice. He looked over at James and have him a small smile, hoping Hagrid wouldn't see this and make them do something else.

"We'll, would ya'll rather be cleaning the toilets?" Hagrid wondered.

James and Sirius shook their heads vigorously.

"No, this is fine," James replied.

"Then stop your complaining," Hagrid told them.

With that, they walked into the Forbidden Forest, hoping not to meet any dangerous creatures.

xxx

September 9, 1972

The next morning at breakfast in the Great Hall, James and Sirius looked like they were about to fall asleep.

"I still can't believe you two got detention," Remus said a she read the Daily Prophet.

Sirius groaned and covered his ears as he responded, "Stop yelling."

"I'm not," Remus replied simply, causing Peter to give a small chuckle.

"I'm so tired," James yawned as he played with his cereal.

It was at this point Remus finally looked away from the wizarding newspaper and replied, "Maybe next time you'll think twice."

"We don't want to hear it anymore, Remus," Sirius said.

"I think they've been through enough," Peter whispered into Remus's ear.

Remus just looked at him and smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 10 Chaser

September 10, 1972

Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked at James for a moment in shock as they entered the boys' dormitory. Had they heard him correctly? James cocked his head to one side when his friends had not shown more enthusiasm about his decision to try out for Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Have you gone mental?" Remus asked, sitting on his bed.

The other three stayed standing.

"What? I love flying," James said.

Since they were now in their second year, they could now able to try out to be on the House team. One of the Chasers had now left Hogwarts, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team needed a replacement.

"Yeah, but trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" Peter asked.

"Well, I think it's a brilliant idea," Sirius said, walked up to James and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Sirius," James replied with a big smile on his face.

"Just don't expect me to try out with you," Sirius added as he walked over to his bed and began to undo his trainers.

Laughing, James responded, "Got it."

After getting out of their school robes, James and Sirius went back down to the common room to play some Wizard Chess.

"You're going to be brilliant, James," Sirius said as Lily happened to walk by.

"Brilliant at what?" she asked.

"I'm trying out for Chaser tomorrow," James replied.

Lily blinked, and then said. "Good luck tomorrow, James."

And she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Did that just happen?" James asked as he touched the place Lily had kissed him as she walked away.

"I think it did," Sirius said, shocked as well.

Marry walked up to Lily and asked, "Why did you do that?"

"Why not?" Lily responded with a giggle.

It wasn't that long ago kissing a boy had seemed gross to Lily, and James would have wiped his cheek, so why had things seemed to change?

xxx

September 11, 1972

Sirius was not paying attention as he ran through the corridor so he could see James try out that he ran into someone. By the sound of the scream, it was a girl.

"Sorry," Sirius apologized, helping pick up the books.

"It's all right," the girl said. She flushed some as Sirius placed the books in her hands. "Thank you."

"So, um… where are you heading?" Sirius asked as he cleared his throat.

He then noted her school robes. It declared her a Ravenclaw.

"I was actually on my way back to the Ravenclaw common room. How about you?" the girl wondered.

"I'm on my way to the Quidditch pitch to watch my mate tryout to be on the Gryffindor House team," Sirius told her.

"I can't wait to see the first match," the girl said excitedly.

"Me either," Sirius replied.

It shocked him that a girl, who clearly was into reading, could be interested in a game like Quidditch.

"Well, perhaps I might see you later," the girl said with a look to the ground.

"I'm Sirius by the way," he replied as the girl turned.

She turned back with a curious look on her face.

"Serious about what?" the girl asked, causing Sirius to laugh out loud.

"No, my name is Sirius," Sirius replied, still trying to stop laughing.

"Oh, I'm Gina," she replied, looking down in embarrassment.

With that, she turned back around and walked off. Sirius began in the other direction to the entrance hall.

xxx

Sirius ran into the field after the tryouts were over.

"Way to go, James," he said, slapping his friend on the back.

James laughed some because he had not gotten on the team yet.

"Thanks, Sirius. What took you so long?" he asked, remembering how he had not seen Sirius in the beginning of the tryout.

"Um…I bumped into someone," Sirius explained. "Literally."

"Oh," was all James replied.

He didn't get how bumping into someone would make Sirius as late as he was, but he decided against asking. Sirius would tell him if he wanted.

"You better get back there," Sirius told James.

James was so caught up in thought that he hadn't heard his name being called.

"Right," he nodded, and he headed back to the group.

Sirius crossed his fingers.

"Congratulation, Mr. Potter," the captain replied. "You're our new Chaser."

James took his hand his shock and said, "Thanks."

James shook his head and laughed as he walked towards Sirius, who was clapping loudly.

"Congratulations, mate," Sirius said. "This is a cause for celebration."

"Like what?" James asked.

"You'll see," Sirius replied with a mischievous smile.

xxx

James stopped in awe as Sirius entered the common room with all sorts of goods from the kitchen. Sirius had made James stay behind with Remus and Peter, who were now in the dormitory.

"How the bloody hell did you you know where the kitchen was, Sirius?" James asked.

He looked around the common room, but no one seemed to care how Sirius had gotten so much food.

"You hear things," Sirius replied, giving the same mischievous smile he had given James on the field.

James's eyes grew as a girl, a year above them, walked up to him.

"I hear you're the new Chaser," the girl said.

"That's right," James nodded.

"I'm Fern," she said, extending her hand out.

James took her hand and shook it. He then realized who she was.

"Oh, right. You're one of the other Chasers," James said.

"I'll see you later," Fern replied.

Sirius walked up to James as Fern walked away.

"See you," James said under his breath.

He had no idea what was going on. It was a strange feeling in his gut.

"What was…" Sirius began.

"Shut it," James told Sirius before he could finish his sentence.

"But…" Sirius tried again, but James cut him off again, saying, "I mean it, Sirius."

Sirius finally gave up and started up the stairs with the food.

xxx

November 14, 1972

Sirius had not mentioned Fern to James since that night, but he, Remus, and Peter had all spotted him together with Fern, laughing and talking.

The first Quidditch match of the season had just ended, and Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw. Sirius, Remus, and Peter ran up to James after the match.

"Great match, James," Sirius said.

James could never stay mad at Sirius for long.

"Thanks," he replied with a big smile on his face.

Sirius looked away for a moment as Remus and Peter were congratulating James when he saw something.

"Sirius, what is it?" Remus asked when Sirius had turned back around with a shocked look on his face.

"I don't know," he said.

The three looked at Sirius confusedly.

"I don't understand," Peter said.

"I just saw my brother talking to Snape," Sirius replied with a sigh.

This confused James and the others even more. Why would Sirius be shocked about that when they were both in Slytherin?

"Why would that surprise you?" James asked.

"Yeah, they're both in Slytherin," Remus replied, voicing the others thoughts out loud.

"I guess you're right," Sirius said.

With a shake of hid head, Sirius let it go and went back to celebrating Gryffindor's victory.

xxx

Remus tossed and turned in his sleep. He had never had a dream about transforming before.

"Where am I?" Remus asked out loud because the scene was so fuzzy.

Sure, he had dreams of himself as a wolf, but never transforming like this. He had also had nightmares of the night he had been bitten. When Remus looked around he found himself in a familiar room he occupied while he was a werewolf. Something was different, though. He felt like he was being watched. There were three animals behind Remus when he turned.

"What are you three doing here?" he asked them, and for some reason, he expected them to answer him back.

The stag, the huge black dog, and the rat stared back at him in an almost human way.


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 11 To James

January 20, 1973

Students had just arrived back to Hogwarts. Everyone was excited to be back, including Remus. However, his friends did not like what they had seen on the train ride.

"Remus, what happened to you?" Peter had asked, eyeing the already healing scratches on his face as they had taken their seats in the compartment of the Hogwarts Express.

"Oh, I had an accident," he replied, brushing it off like it was nothing.

"Are you going to be okay?" Sirius asked.

Remus looked over at him and gave a reassuring smile, which he found did not feel as forced as it used to be.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Especially now that I'm back here with all of you," he replied.

That had been a fortnight ago, and the marks on Remus's face were still there. James, Sirius, and Peter were getting worried. Remus seemed to get into many of these so called accidents.

"I don't like Remus's state one bit," James said when Remus had stepped out of the dormitory.

"Neither do I," Sirius admitted.

There was no denying now that something major was going on, and Remus was not telling them.

"What do you think we should do, then?" Peter asked.

"We have to talk to Dumbledore tomorrow," James replied.

He figured going to the headmaster was the best thing to do.

"What's Dumbledore going to do about it," Peter asked.

"I don't know," James shot back, frustrated, "but I'm sure he can do something. Something's not right with Remus. He gets sick every month for no apparent reason. And now with this so called accident?"

Sirius and Peter looked down, not knowing what else to say.

xxx

January 21, 1973

James, Sirius, and Peter stood in front of the entrance to Dumbledore's office after Sirius had gotten it from an unnamed source.

"Are you sure about this?" Peter asked nervously.

Sirius gave a frustrated sigh and turned to Peter.

"You want to help Remus, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes, but… oh, never mind," Peter said which James and Sirius were thankful for. "I suppose it's too late to turn back."

James took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Dumbledore's voice declared a moment later.

"Here we go," Sirius said as James reached for the doorknob and turned it.

Dumbledore greeted them with a warm smile, obviously not caring how they had gotten the password.

"Why, hello you three."

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore," they said as they nodded.

"Shouldn't there be one more of you?" Dumbledore asked.

They looked at each other for a moment before Sirius answered, "Yes, sir. You see, this is about Remus."

"Go on," Dumbledore replied.

There was no going back now.

"We think something's going on with him," James said.

Peter just stayed behind James and Sirius, letting them do the talking.

"And why is that, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked thoughtfully.

With the way the headmaster had delivered this question, James had the feeling Dumbledore knew more than he was leading them to believe.

"He came back from Christmas holiday with scars all over his face and arms," James replied.

"And did you inquire him about it?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, sir," Sirius responded, feeling like he needed to say something. "He said it was from an accident he had."

Dumbledore looked away for a moment, giving time for James, Sirius, and Peter to glance over at each other.

"And you don't believe he is telling the truth?" Dumbledore asked.

They shook their heads.

"Well, you see, Professor, Remus has also been getting sick quite often," James added, hoping that this would tell Dumbledore that they had been noticing Remus's action's for a while.

"Professor Dumbledore, we just want to know if there's anything you or we can do to help Remus with whatever's he's going through," Sirius said.

"That, my dear boys, is a question for your friend, Mr. Lupin, to answer himself. I'm sure he will, as I am, be touched to know he has such good friends that care for him," Dumbledore replied, which was not at all what they had wanted to hear.

"Thank you, sir," James said.

The three turned and left Dumbledore's office, not sure if they had accomplished anything or not.

xxx

February 24, 1973

James couldn't believe his eyes. Here he was trying to help Remus as much as he could, and there he was talking to Lily at the entrance of Gryffindor tower. James wondered what Lily and Remus would be saying to each other.

"What was that about?" James asked as Remus, who looked a little taken aback, walked up to him.

"Oh, Lily was just asking me a question on Professor McGonagall's homework." Remus answered. "Why?"

"Oh, um… sorry," James apologized.

He looked down, feeling embarrassed. Here he was with Fern, and his mind was on Lily.

"I don't under… oh, I see what you were thinking," Remus said, laughing, which James did not like.

"What's that?" James asked, though it came out more as a demand.

"Don't worry, James." Remus replied, still laughing as they entered the common room. "I don't fancy Lily as apparently you do."

Even as he said, Remus knew he had said the wrong thing. He knew his friend was with another girl.

"I don't," James shouted.

"Don't want?" Sirius asked as he walked up to the pair.

"Fancy Evans," James answered.

"Denial is the first sign that the accusation is true," Sirius said.

Remus opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. He, however, laughed inside knowing that Sirius felt the same way he did.

"But… oh, I'm not even going to bother," James said, crossing his arms in frustration.

"Good man," Sirius replied.

xxx

March 27, 1973

James yawned and sat up in bed. His eyes grew when he saw Sirius sitting in front of him with some food.

"Happy birthday, mate," Sirius said.

"Aw, thanks," James replied.

James looked down as Sirius handed him a biscuit.

"Fresh from the kitchens," Sirius said.

"You didn't…" James began before Sirius shoved a biscuit in his mouth.

"Oh, shut it and eat," Sirius said.

They turned as Peter gasped for air.

"Are you all right there, Peter?" Sirius asked.

"Just… a bad dream," he said.

Peter sat up in bed, the image of a snake-like man still burned into his mind. Was this You-Know Who?

The boys got dressed and headed down to the common room. James stopped as Lily walked up to him.

"I hear it's your birthday," Lily said.

James looked around, and there was no sign of Fern.

"Yes, it is," he said.

"Well then…" Lily began as she leaned in and kidded his cheek, "happy birthday, James."

"Did that just happen?" James asked as Lily walked away.

"James, my mate, it just happened," Sirius said, no longer able to hold in laughing.

Remus and Peter soon joined.

COMING UP NEXT TIME…

Remus has as another bad dream, James and Fern get caught snogging, Sirius and Gina do some late night "studying", and Sirus, too, has a bad dream.


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 12

Late Night Studying

May 25, 1973

Remus gave a small gasp as he sat up in his bed. He had had the dream again. Why were these three animals with him in the now infamous Shirking Shack? On the last trip to Hogsmeade, Dumbledore had encouraged the rumors that the house was haunted and coined it, the Shirking Shack. If as if things could not go more wrong for him, Remus walked down to the common room that morning to find James and Fern snogging.

"Sorry," Remus apologized, feeling his cheeks getting warmer.

Remus walked out of the common room and sighed as he walked the corridors to the Great Hall. That scene would sadly be burned in his mind.

"Remus, wait up," a voice called out.

He turned to find James running towards him, adjusting his tie.

"Sorry again, James," Remus apologized, not able to look at him.

"That doesn't matter. I'm worried about you, Remus," he said.

Remus then focused his eyes on James.

"Why?" he asked.

"You were very upset in your sleep last night. That's why Sirius, Peter, and I let you sleep in this morning," James explained.

He had wondered why they had not woken him up.

"Thanks," Remus said.

With that, James reentered the common room. Walking into the Great Hall, Remus spotted Lily.

"Hi, Lily," Remus greeted her.

She did not look happy when she turned.

"Oh, hi, Remus," Lily said.

"Are you all right?" Remus asked.

"I'm fine," Lily answered, though Remus knew she was lying.

Lily then glanced towards the entrance. Remus turned and saw James and Fern. Sirius and Peter were behind them, neither one looking very happy, and he had a feeling why.

Remus turned back to Lily and asked, "You saw them snogging too, huh?"

Lily did not answer, so he knew it was true.

xxx

June 1, 1973

Sirius did not believe what he was seeing as he walked through the library. Sure, he knew Lily and Snape were friends, but the way they were looking at each other and giggling, it did not look like they were studying at all. This gave him an idea. Sirius went running out of the library to find Gina. He found her in the entrance hall.

"Hi, Gina," Sirius said, a bit out of breath.

Gina turned and gave a big smile.

"Hey, Sirius," she said.

Sirius took a deep breath and asked, "Listen. Would you like to study tonight?"

He had not meat for it to come out so blunt. The reason was now on Gina's face.

"Sorry?" Gina asked.

"We can sneak into the library tonight and study," Sirius said, trying, but failing to be seductive.

"What if we get caught?" Gina asked.

Sirius looked away for a moment.

"We won't Trust me," he said.

"All right, then," Gina replied.

Sirius tried to retain his smile, but he could not.

"Great," he said.

xxx

Sirius sat at the entrance to the library feeling dim-witted. Gina had not showed up yet, and Sirius did not know of she would.

"I should've known she wouldn't come," Sirius said out loud.

"You were saying?" a voice asked from behind him.

Sirius turned and saw Gina was standing behind him with her arms crossed.

"I thought you weren't going to come," he said, reaching out and taking her hand.

"I couldn't get away fast enough," Gina replied.

After five minutes of studying, they began going off subject and started talking about themselves. Another ten minutes later, they were snogging.

"What was that?" Gina asked, gasping for air.

They heard the noise again, but this time it was closer.

"Filtch," Sirius and Gina panicked.

They slowly made their way out of the library and went their separate ways. Sirius was slowly getting back in his bed when James woke up.

"Sirius?" James asked.

"Shhh… go back to bed, James," he said.

About an hour later, Sirius was sound asleep, but in his dream, he found himself in a prison

"What's going on?" Sirius asked out loud.

Sirius ran to the bars and wrapped his hands around them.

"Help me," he yelled, but no one came.

Then, it got real cold, and Sirius couldn't help but close his eyes as a shadow floated towards him.

"Sirius, what's wrong?" James asked as Sirius gasped for air when he woke up.

"No… nothing. Bad dream," he said.

As Sirius laid back down, he gave a shiver.


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 13

September 13, 1973

James sighed as he walked through the corridors alone. Things had not been good with Fern since returning to school.

"Everything all right, James?" a girl's voice asked.

James stopped and looked up to see Lily.

"What's it to you?" he asked sourly.

"Sorry, I was asking," Lily said, turning around to walk away.

"No, I'm sorry, Evans," James replied with a sigh.

Lily turned around and responded, "Lily."

"Excuse me?" James asked.

Lily walked up to him, her face now inches from his.

"My name is Lily," she repeated.

"Right," James said as he cleared his throat.

Lily looked harder at James and decided to try again.

"So, are you okay?" she asked.

"No, not really," James admitted.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked, really concerned about his now.

Behind the next corridor, Sirius was watching the pair.

"Fern and I had another fight," James said.

He then noticed the look on Lily's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lily said.

James gave a small laugh.

"Sure you are," he said.

"I beg your pardon?" Lily asked, her thoughtful look gone.

"I see the way you look at me," James said.

Sirius put a hand on his forehead. James had blown it.

"You wish, Potter," Lily said.

She turned and left. When she could not be seen, Sirius walked up to James.

"Tough luck, mate," Sirius said, placing a hand on James's shoulder.

"I don't know why I just did that," James said.

"Come on, James. Let's get to the Great Hall and eat," Sirius replied.

James was not the same of the day.

xxx

September 14, 1973

When James walked into the boys' dormitory after classes had ended for the day, Sirius was pacing the length of his bed.

"You angry too?" James asked.

Sirius turned and nodded.

"What's your story?" he asked.

"I broke up with Fern," James answered.

He had had it. Quidditch seemed to be the only thing they had in common.

"I had a row with my brother," Sirius said.

James shook his head. Here he was complaining about his problems when Sirius's family matters seemed to be worse than anything he had gone through.

"Sorry to hear that," James apologized.

"I'm not surprised he's following the family way," Sirius said with a sigh.

"What are you saying?" James asked as he sat on his bed.

"He can't wait to join You-Know-Who," Sirius replied with his eyes on the ground.

"He's what?" James asked in shock, almost jumping.

"Yeah."

Sirius looked at James with defeat in his eyes. He wished he could save his brother from the path he was choosing.

xxx

September 15, 1973

The students were all gathering their things as Potions class ended.

"Remember, I need that essay on the Draft of the Living Death next class," Professor Slughorn told the class.

As Lily turned, she lost her footing and dropped her books and bag.

"Oh, bugger," she said.

"I'll get those," James immediately responded.

Snape's eyes grew as James bent down and picked up Lily's books.

"Thank you, Pot… James," Lily replied.

She found herself smiling even though she really did not want to give James the satisfaction by doing so.

"What was that for?" Severus demanded as Lily walked up to him.

"He just picked up my books for me," Lily said, giving him a hurt look.

"Didn't he just break up with…" Severus began as Lily put her hands on her hips.

"Fern? Yes, he did. What does that have to do with anything?" Lily asked.

"Oh, come on, Lily. It's obvious Potter fancies you," Severus said.

She looked away and replied, "I can take care of myself, Sev."

"I didn't say you couldn't," he muttered.

The rest of the way to the Great Hall was silent.

xxx

Later on the night, Sirius decided to talk to James about what happened with Lily.

"You fancy Evans, don't you?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not sure. There is something," James admitted.

It was not like he would just help anyone if their book fell. He and Sirius were usually the cause of it to begin with.

"Just admit it, James," Sirius said.

"I'm not admitting anything," he replied.

Sirius sighed and got into bed. Remus and Peter were already in their beds, but far from sleeping.

"If you say so," Sirius replied, letting his head hit his pillow.

James did the same, though he was sure he would not be getting any rest thanks to Sirius.


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 14 Spying

October 22, 1973

James had been acting differently ever since he and Fern broke up, especially around Lily, although he always did seem to be more pompous, if that were possible, when he was around her.

"Come with us to Hogsmeade, Lily. You know you want to," James said after class.

Lily laughed and responded, "Even if I wanted to, I would still say no."

"And why's that?" James asked.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter rolled their eyes. They knew how James got around Lily, and they did not want to be apart of it.

"I already made plans with Severus," Lily explained. "You should've asked sooner rather than wait until the last minute."

"So, you admit then you would've said yes?" James asked, now walking to keep up with Lily.

Lily could not help but smile inside. She loved how she made James hang on her every word.

"I suppose you'll never know," Lily said with a smile.

James stopped in shock as he watched Lily go on.

"Tough luck, mate," Sirius said as James rejoined the group.

"Oh, shut it," James replied.

Lily made James feel different, but he could not describe it.

xxx

It was now dark, and everyone was back in the dormitories after spending the day in Hogsmeade. In the third year boys' dormitory, James had come up with a plan to see Lily.

"James, you really have gone mental," Remus said after hearing the idea.

"What? It's a brilliant plan," he replied.

"It's one that will get you caught," Peter said as he got in bed.

James crossed his arms as Remus, too, got in his bed.

"You three don't have to come," he replied, turning towards his bed.

"Believe me, I'm out," Remus said.

"Me too, James. It's just dangerous," Peter replied with a yawn.

James turned back to face Sirius, who was still in his day clothes, which gave James hope that he might join him.

"Sirius?" he asked.

"Oh, all right," he said, sounding like he had actually given it some thought.

James ran to Sirius and surprisingly hugged him.

"Thanks," he said.

Sirius took a deep breath after James let him go.

"But only because if I have to save your bloody arse," he replied, though he had a hint of a smile on his face.

"I'll take that as a complement," James said, head raised high.

James and Sirius did not say a word to each other as they walked through the common room and out the portrait.

"If we get caught…" Sirius began as they tip-toed their way through the empty corridors.

"I thought you liked danger," James replied with a laugh.

"I do," Sirius said defensively, "but this isn't dangerous. It's mental!"

James quickly covered Sirius's mouth when he heard a noise. "Shhh!"

They made their way out the entrance as fast as they could after that.

"All right now. How exactly are you planning on getting up to one of the tallest towers in Hogwarts?" Sirius asked.

"Climb," James said matter-of-factly.

Sirius's eyes widened.

"You have gone mental. You're really going to kill yourself over a girl?" he asked.

James rolled his eyes and replied, "Just watch my back."

"No, thank you," Sirius said with a laugh.

James turned and made a gesture with his middle finger.

"Ha," he said as Sirius took out his wand.

James slowly but surly made it to the top of Gryffindor tower. Lily gasped when she saw James at the window.

"What the bloody…" she began, but she could not say anything else.

"I just had to see you," James said.

"Please, James, get down," Lily replied in a whisper. "You're going to hurt yourself."

James laughed as he leaned back.

"No, I…" he began, loosing his footing.

"James!" Lily gasped.

"Close one," he said after he got his balance back.

"What do you want?" Lily asked.

She immediately regretted asking that question.

"Will you go out with me?" James asked.

Lily had expected that, but it still came as a shock.

"You're risking your life to ask me out?" she asked.

"That's about right," James said.

Lily rolled her eyes as James gave a cocky smile.

"You're so arrogant," she said, beginning to shut the window.

"Is that a yes?" James yelled.

Lily turned back and opened the window a little more and replied, "Absolutely not."

"What?" James asked in disbelief.

"That means no," Lily said.

"But…" James began as Lily turned away.

"Good night," Lily replied, closing the window all the way this time.

"Bad luck mate," Sirius said as James's feet hit the ground.

They began walking back towards the entrance to the castle.

"I don't understand," James suddenly said.

Why had Lily said no? James thought Lily would say yes.

"Really, you don't?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

When they entered the boys' dormitory, Peter was tossing and turning in his bed.

"Peter?" Sirius asked.

James walked over to Peter's bed and began shaking him after he started yelling.

"Peter!" he yelled.

He sat straight up and looked around.

"What? I didn't…" Peter began.

"You were yelling," James told him.

"Oh, sorry," Peter apologized.

He could mot look at them. Remus then slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just had a bad dream," Peter replied.

Peter lay back down on his pillow, not really wanting to go back to sleep. Why did he keep having this dream of him with a figure of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth on his forearm? This time, he could feel it burn.

xxx

November 28, 1973

Sirius rolled his eyes and dragged James out of the library where they had just seen Lily and Severus laughing and talking.

"Don't pay attention to them," he said.

James gave a snort.

"Come on, Sirius. It's so disgusting, that you just can't," he replied.

"Try to," Sirius said.

They once again entered the library, though for the life of him, Sirius did not know why.

"James…" Sirius began, noticing where his friend's eyes were heading. "James, what happened?"

"They almost…" James started to say, but he could not finish.

"Who almost what?" Sirius asked.

"Lily and Severus. They almost kissed," James said.

"Come with me," Sirius replied with a sigh.

For the second time, James and Sirius left the library. Sirius handed James a plain bottle of liquid when they got back to the dormitory.

"What's that?" James asked.

"Butterbeer," Sirius said.

"How did you…" James began before Sirius cut him off saying, "Snuck some back from Hogsmeade."

James and Sirius cheered and tipped the contents in their mouths.

"Brilliant," James said.

And with that, James took another gulp.


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 15 Lily's Big Day

January 30, 1974

Lily yawned as she sat in bed and stretched out her arms. Today was a big day for her. Today, she was fourteen.

"Happy birthday, Lily," Mary said as she sat at the edge of the bed.

"Thanks, Mary," she replied with a big smile on her face.

Mary left Lily's gift on the bed as she began to get ready for class.

"Too bad it's on a school day, though," she said with a sigh.

Lily looked at Mary as she unwrapped her present and replied, "Oh, I know." Lily smiled at the new book in her hands. "Thank you, Mary."

"Maybe the Professors will be lenient with you," Mary suggested as they got dressed.

"Slughorn and Flitwick maybe, but I doubt the rest will," Lily said with a laugh.

"Yeah, especially McGonagall," Mary added.

Mart could not help but James's forlorn look in the common room.

"What's been up with Potter?," she asked. "He hasn't been himself since December."

"I wouldn't worry about him," Lily said, knowing Jame would be all right.

However, she had noticed James, along with Sirius, were getting into more trouble lately. James had become very snappy and hex kids on the hall for no good reason.

xxx

It was the end of the day, and for some reason, it was getting to Lily that James hadn't wished her a happy birthday yet. After all, she had remembered his birthday and had even kissed him on the cheek. Then she remembered the way he looked in the common room, but it did not seem to help.

"Lily, are you all right?" Mary asked, noticing her friend's lack of attention.

"No, I'm not," she snapped.

Lily looked down as Mary backed away.

"Sorry," Mary apologized.

"No, I'm sorry, Mary," Lily said with a sigh. "It's just I can't believe he actually forgot."

"Who forgot what?" Mary asked.

"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell," Lily said.

xxx

Later on the night, Remus decided to go down to the common room because he could not sleep. He was surprised to find Lily on the couch that faced the usually lit fireplace.

"Hey, Lily," Remus said.

Lily gasped and turned.

"Remus! What are you doing up?" she asked.

It looked like she had been crying, but Remus did not want to ask in hear of upsetting her more.

"Can't sleep," Remus replied as he sat next to her.

"It was my birthday today, and he didn't tell me anything," Lily said, crossing her arms angrily.

She hated that James made her feel this way. He was the most self centered boy she knew.

"Well, happy birthday, but what makes you think James would know?" Remus asked.

He did not know if insinuating that James was the person Lily was referring to was a good idea.

"I realize that now," Lily replied with a sigh.

Remus got up and walked towards the stairs. He could not believe he was going to do this.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked.

"I'll be right back," Remus told her.

Lily's eyes grew when Remus came walking down the stairs with a case of Butterbeer.

"Where did you get those?" she asked.

"Sirius has loads from Hogsmede," Remus said.

James and Sirius were currently doing detention for McGonagall.

"Wow," Lily replied.

She could not believe that Remus of all people would do this.

"Happy fourteenth, Lily," Remus said, handing her a bottle.

"Thank you, Remus," she told him.

About an hour later, Remus had to go back to the boys' dormitory to get more Butterbeer.

"I don't think I should drink anymore," Lily said with a laugh.

Remus laughed, too, and stumbled to the couch. He found it odd how he left himself go like this. He would have never done this with the others.

"Me either," Remus admitted.

He stopped laughing as Lily touched his cheek.

"You're a very sweet person, Remus," Lily said.

"Most of the time," he muttered.

"You know what I think?" Lily asked.

Remus swallowed hard as Lily moved closer.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"I think you're purposely getting me drunk," Lily said.

Remus shook his head and replied, "I would never do that to James."

Lily gave a frustrated sigh.

"James, James, James. Why does everything have to revolve around him?" she asked.

Lily placed her bottle on the ground and lay across Remus's lap.

"Lily…" Remus began.

"Shhh," she began, covering his mouth.

She reached out her other hand, placed it at the back of his neck, and pulled him to her lips. Remus wanted to pull away, but he really wasn't trying. He finally got the strength to pull away after thinking of James's reaction.

"We can't," Remus gasped.

Lily sat up and looked down and said, "I'm sorry. You're right."

"It's not that I don't like you, Lily. I do, just not in that way," Remus said.

"I understand," she replied.

They told each other good night and went to bed.

xxx

April 12, 1974

Sirius sat up in bed. He could not remember what he had dreamed about, only that it had caused him to wake up abruptly. Glancing around, he noticed someone was missing from their bed. Sirius walked over to it, and sure enough, Remus was gone. He hated when he did that. Especially since he, James, and Peter did not know what he was doing that was causing him to end up in the hospital wing every month. He looked out the window and sighed. A flash of bars appeared in his mind. Sirius jumped back. The dream came back to him. He sat alone on a jail cell. Several large hooded figures hovered by, but he did not know what they were, or why they were there.

"Wait a minute," Sirius whispered out loud.

He took the opened book that was on the floor. He had been reading it before falling asleep.

"Of course," Sirius realized.

They were Dementors. Sirius could not help but shiver a little. Dementors could shock out your soul. They guarded Azkaban, the wizard prison.

xxx

April 13, 1974

James and Peter woke up an hour before Sirius.

When Sirius woke up, the first thing James asked him was, "Where did Remus go?"

"Yeah, he was here last night," Peter added.

"I think I have a clue," Sirius said.

The three of them walked down to the hospital wing, and sure enough, Remus was sitting up in one of the beds, eating.

"How did you…" Remus began.

Peter sat at the edge of the bed as James and Sirius stood.

"Intuition," Sirius said.

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"I got sick last night," Remus explained.

"Well, get better," James said.

Peter got up, and he and James began walking out.

"I'll be right out," Sirius said.

"What is it?" Remus asked.

By the way Sirius looked, Remus knew Sirius suspected something.

"Got sick, did you?" Sirius asked.

"That's right," Remus nodded.

Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Remus. You can tell me the truth," Sirius said.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked.

"I saw you walking across the ground," Sirius told him.

Remus's eyes grew. He was not expecting that.

"Me?" Remus asked.

"Yes, you," Sirius said.

"You must have been seeing things," Remus replied as he looked away.

"I don't think so," Sirius said.

When Remus did not respond, Sirius left.


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 16 Bad Days

September 13, 1974

Sirius was walking hand and hand with Gina down the corridor when Gina spotted someone familiar.

"Sirius, isn't that your brother?" she asked.

He looked towards where Gina was pointing at and nodded, "Yes."

"And who is that with him?" Gina asked.

"That's…" Sirius began, trying to get a better. Then the person talking with his brother turned. "Oh bloody hell."

"What is it?" Gina asked.

"That's Severus Snape," Sirius said, greeting his teeth.

"He's in our year, right?" Gina asked.

"Yeah," Sirius replied.

As they began to walk again, Sirius developed a short temper. He had snapped at a first year boy for no apparent reason.

"Are you all right?" Gina asked.

"I'd just like to know what they were talking about," Sirius said with a sigh.

"I'm sure it was nothing," Gina assured him as she put a hand on his shoulder. "I mean, they both are in Slytherin. You don't see any of them talking to any of us, now do you?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Sirius replied.

xxx

September 14, 1974

The next day, Gina noticed Sirius in the Great Hall still looking gloomy.

"Still thinking about what we saw yesterday?" she asked.

Sirius looked at her and nodded.

"Kind of," he admitted.

"Come with me," Gina asked, taking hold of his hand.

"Where are we going?" Sirius asked.

"You'll see," Gina said with a smile.

Sirius gave Gina a curious look as they stopped in front of the library.

"The library?" he asked.

Gina rolled her eyes and pushed Sirius in.

"Just walk," she replied.

"What's this all about?" Sirius asked as they reached the part of the library where he had taken her.

"Let me just make you forget," Gina whispered.

Gina leaned and in and deeply kissed Sirius.

xxx

October 1, 1974

Lily walked up to Sirius and tapped his shoulder at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"Sirius…," she began to say. "What?"

Lily backed a way in shock at the look on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lily," Sirius apologized.

"Are you all right, Sirius?" she asked.

"No," he admitted with a sigh.

Lily took a breath and sat next to him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

Sirius looked over at her sadly replied, "You won't like what I have to say."

"Try me," Lily said.

Sirius looked around to make sure James was not around. The last thing he needed was his best mate seeing him talking to the girl he fancied.

"I saw Severus with Regulus a couple of weeks ago," he told her.

"And you're still letting it get to you?" Lily asked.

Sirius gave Lily a shocked look. That was not the kind of reply he was expecting.

"You're not going to defend Snivellus?" Sirius asked.

"Please, don't call him that," Lily pleaded. "And no… I know he's changing, and I don't approve of it."

Without realizing he had done. So, Sirius's hand was on Lily's shoulder.

"You're a nice person, Lily. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," he said.

"Thanks, Sirius," Lily replied with a smile.

Gina ran out when she saw Lily kiss Sirius's cheek.

xxx

October 2, 1974

Gina walked straight up to Lily in the corridor and slapped her.

"You little…" she began.

Lily's mouth was opened... hand on the spot where she had been slapped.

"Gina, what's going on?" she asked.

This was the perfect time for James to intervene, but then again, maybe not. Unfortunately, no one had witnessed this.

"You know bloody well what the problem is," Gina said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't," Lily replied.

"You and Sirius," Gina yelled.

And then it came to Lily. Gina must have spotted her and Sirius in the Great Hall. She now regretted kissing Sirius on the cheek.

"What about us? We're just friends," Lily explained.

"Don't make me laugh. I saw the two of you last night in the Great Hall," Gina said.

Other students were now appearing in the corridor.

"Yes, and he wasn't in his right mind," Lily said. "Who knows how many Butterbeers he had before then?"

Gina made a noise with her throat, turned around, and walked away.

"Everything all right, Evans?" a familiar voice asked.

Lily gasped and turned to face James.

"I..." she began.

James's hand reached for her cheek.

"What the..." he started to say.

"It's nothing," Lily told James.

"You really think I'm going to believe that?" James asked.

"Please, James, this doesn't concern you," Lily said.

She walked away, hoping James would not harp on it.

xxx

October 16, 1974

James moaned as Sirius woke him up. He still had no clue that Gina was the one that hit Lily, and that was how Lily wanted it to stay. She was not going to have James and Sirius fighting over it.

"What is it?" James asked with a yawn.

"Remus is gone again," Sirius said.

Of course, however, Lily had to tell Sirius about it. He would have put to and to together after having it out with Gina and then seeing Lily's face.

"We'll check the hospital wing tomorrow," James said as Sirius woke up Peter.

"No, get up. We're going to find out what he's really up to," Sirius replied.

James ended up getting up and began getting dressed. He had just finished his last detention for snapping in Potions.

"I'm tired," Peter wined.

"Suck it up, Peter," Sirius said as they walked through the common room.

The three of them snuck out of the castle and waited to see Remus.

"There he is," James whispered.

Sirius leveled his eyebrows when he realized where Remus was heading.

"He's going into the Whomping Willow," he said.

"Let's go," James replied.

Peter gasped and stopped.

"You're mental," he said.

Then he ran to caught up with James and Sirius.

"Remus?" James called out.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, fear in his eyes.

"We could ask you the same question," Sirius said.

Remus glanced at the moon.

"You need to get out of here," he said.

"Why?" Peter asked.

Then James and Sirius also looked up at the moon.

"Guys, it's a full moon," James noticed.

"What about it?" Peter asked.

Sirius took a step closer to Remus.

"Remus, you're a werewolf, aren't you?" he asked.

With his head down, Remus replied, "Yes."

They did not say a word to each other for a moment.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Peter asked.

"I thought you all wouldn't like me, and I didn't want that. I've…I've never had friends like you before," Remus said.

James and Sirius laughed and threw an arm each around Remus and hugged him.

"Remus, we will never hate you or think anything else of you for being different," James said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," Sirius said with a laugh.

James also laughed and threw an arm around Remus.

"You just have a fury little problem," he said.

"Thanks, but you three really do need leave," Remus replied.

"Right," they nodded.

Understanding that they could not stay, James, Severus, and Remus left.

xxx

October 17, 1974

The next morning, the boys met up with Remus in the hospital wing.

"I hear the secret's out," Madame Pomfrey said as she walked up to them.

"We're sorry, Madame Pomfrey," Peter apologized.

"Please, don't tell Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore that we went out after hours," James begged.

He did not know how either of them would take it.

"I should. But I won't," Madame Pomfrey said.

"Thank you," Sirius replied.

"I've been telling Mr. Lupin to tell you three for ages now," Madame Pomfrey explained.

She walked away to let them carry on.

"I'm glad you know now," Remus said.

"So are we," James replied with a smile.

To James's surprise, Remus pulled him closer and hugged him.

xxx

October 18, 1974

Gina and Sirius were still fighting. She ran up to him in the entrance hall because she had not seen him at breakfast.

"Where have you been?" Gina demanded.

"Remus is sick. I was just visiting him in the hospital wing," Sirius explained, though he did not think he had to.

"Oh, well… I'm sorry," Gina apologized.

She had been trying to make things right, but Sirius would not have it.

"You're still mad at me about Lily, aren't you?" Sirius asked, knowing the answer.

"Well, you shouldn't have gotten drunk. There was no reason to," Gina said.

"No reason to? You have no idea what my family life is like," Sirius yelled.

"No, I don't, but…" Gina began.

"But nothing. We're through, Gina," Sirius said.

He walked away from her, leaving Gina alone.


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 17 Let Down

October 19, 1974

Remus shook his head as James once again told him the plan he had come up with so they would be able to be with him while he was a werewolf.

"I know I've said this to you before, James, but this time I really do think you have gone mental," Sirius said.

James gave him a hurt look as he sat on his bed.

"It will never work," Peter told him.

"As good of a plan it is, James, I agree with Sirius and Peter," Remus said. "It takes years to become an Animagus."

James figured that if they were animals, Remus in his werewolf form would not harm them.

"And besides, how do you know how Remus will react to three animals after he has transformed?" Sirius asked.

"Exactly," Peter added.

James had already thought about this and had an answer to give.

"That's an easy enough test," he replied.

Remus huffed and turned to the window in shock. Was James seriously suggesting putting three animals in the Shirking Shack with him as a werewolf?

"I don't believe you," Remus said.

"Okay, I will if all of us go for it," Peter replied.

James looked over at Peter in shock.

"Maybe…" Sirius began.

Remus's eye grew and turned to Sirius and gasped, "Sirius!"

"Only if… and I mean a big if, that experiment with the animals proves we won't be in any danger if we by some chance even succeed in becoming Animagi," he said.

xxx

October 20, 1974

James found himself in a unfamiliar house when someone screamed, "James!"

He went running into the bedroom where he found a familiar redhead.

"Are you all right, Lily?" James asked.

"I'm fine," Lily told him, hands on her expanding stomach.

"Then why did you yell my name for?" James asked. "I thought there was something wrong with the baby."

Lily looked down at her stomach and smiled.

"The baby just kicked," she said.

James shot up in bed, unable to make a noise. Why on Earth would he be dreaming of a pregnant Lily? He was fifteen for Merlin's sake. And besides, Lily wanted nothing to do with him. Right?

"What's the matter, James?" Sirius asked as he sat up in bed.

"No… nothing," he said.

"Bad dream?" Sirius asked.

"Sort of," James said.

xxx

October 21, 1974

James had not been acting like himself. He was really letting the dream get to him.

"James has been acting very strange today," Remus noticed at breakfast after James left the group.

"Yes, he has," Peter agreed.

James had hardly talk in the morning while getting ready for the day.

"It might have something to do with his dream last night," Sirius said.

"Dream?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, he woke up abruptly that I didn't know what to think," Sirius said.

"What was it about?" Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

When they all finished, the boys saw James in the entrance hall. James gasped and jumped back when Sirius touched his shoulder.

"James, you're being very jumpy today," Sirius said.

"I'm I?" he asked.

Remus looked around the room before turned back to James.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Nothing," James answered.

"Is this about that dream?" Sirius asked James in a whisper.

"Maybe," James admitted, though, of course it was true.

"James, Lily's looking at you," Peter said.

To their surprise, James didn't even look or react in any way.

"Bloody hell," Sirius said after James did not attempt to look back or say anything.

"I second that," Remus agreed.

"What are you going on about?" Peter asked.

"He dreamed about Lily last night," Sirius realized.

Peter and Remus looked over at James, but he was not paying any attention to them.

"How you reckon that?" Peter asked.

"He's not even looking at her," Sirius said.

"James, what kind of dream about Lily did you have?" Remus asked, making sure this time that he was listening.

"Not the kind you're thinking about I'm sure," he said.

xxx

November 2, 1974

Sirius sat on his bed, letters spread all over it. He picked one up and sighed. Each letter had been from a single person. Gina.

"Sirius…" a familiar voice called.

His head shot up to find James looking at him. James was finally beginning to act normal again, though he still could not look at Lily.

"James..." Sirius began.

"Still thinking about Gina?" he asked, noticing the letters.

"She just didn't get what I was going through," Sirius said.

"I'm sorry, mate," James apologized.

"Don't go soft on me, James," Sirius said with a laugh. "You've been off for a month now."

James gave a small laugh and sat on his bed.

"I can't seem to get that dream out of my head," he said.

"Lily has even noticed," Sirius told him.

He remembered Lily waling up to him and asking what was going on.

"Really?" James asked.

He could not help but like seeing James act like himself again.

"She says you're not on her case about dating her like you used to," Sirius said.

"The dream was about her, you know?" James asked.

"Yeah, I figured," Sirius said with a laugh.

"She was pregnant, Sirius," James bluntly replied.

Sirius looked at James in shock.

"Now it all makes sense," he said.

Sirius got up and walked over to James's bed.

"It freaked me out," James said.

"All right, so you fancy her," Sirius replied with a laugh.

James also gave a small laugh.

"I guess there's no going back after that, huh?" he asked.

"No," Sirius said.

"What do you think it means?" James asked, referring to the dream.

"Obviously… you're going to have a baby with her. Or…" Sirius began before James looked at him quickly in fear.

"Or what?" James asked, panic in his voice.

Sirius laugh at the look on James's face.

"Or you were just thinking of her too much, hence the baby dream," he said.

xxx

November 3, 1974

The guys were on their way to class when Gina stopped them in the hall.

"Hi, Sirius," she said.

"We'll see you in class," Remus told him.

Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but it was too late. So, he turned back and replied, "Hi, Gina."

"How have you been?" she asked.

"All right," Sirius said. "You?"

"All right. I miss you," Gina replied.

"I do too," Sirius admitted, "but that's not enough to get back together."

Gina looked down, her eyes starting to water.

"I'm sorry that it isn't," she apologized.

"Me, too," Sirius said.

xxx

November 4, 1974

Sirius, James, and Peter were at the library, just watching Remus studying.

"Why do you always drag us to the library to study?" Sirius asked. "You know Madame Pince will only throw us out."

"Again," James added.

He laughed thinking about the last time they had been kicked out. James and Sirius had been thorwing paper wads at a group of students in front of them.

"Sev, pay attention," Lily snapped.

Severus looked back and Lily and sighed.

"Sorry, Lily, but I don't feel like studying right now," he said.

"You haven't been yourself ever since..." she began to say.

"Ever since what?" Severus asked.

But Lily wasn't looking at Severus anymore. She was looking at James, and for the first time in over a month, he was looking at her.

"If you don't want to study, fine," Lily said.

Lily got up from her seat and began walking towards where James was sitting with the others.

"I don't believe this," Severus said, wacthing in disbelief.

Snape angrily shut his book and walked out.

"Is everything all right, Lily?" Remus asked.

"Severus is just being difficult at the moment," she answered.

"Difficult?" Is that what you're calling it?" James asked.

"Don't start with me, Potter," Lily snapped.

"Whatever you say, Evans," James said.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter all smiled. James was back.


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 18 Full Moon

December 10, 1974

Remus walked back into the boys' dormitory after forgetting something to find James, Sirius, and Peter were all up and dressed.

"What are you three doing up?" Remus asked.

"Tonight's the night," James said.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked.

"Peter and I were able to capture so animals for the test," James explained.

Remus let out a sigh.

"How did I let you convince to do this mental experiment?" he asked.

With that, they walked out the door and began walking down to the common room.

"And where exactly are you going?" a feminine voice asked.

James turned and gasped to find Lily behind them.

"Evans! What are you doing up?" he asked.

Remus gave her a puzzled look. He had no clue she was even there when he had been in the common room before.

"Reading," Lily answered. "Now answer my question."

"We're just going for a walk," Remus said.

"You really shouldn't," Lily told them.

"We won't get caught," Sirius said.

She got up and crossed her arms.

"You promise?" Lily asked. "The last thing Gryffindor needs is more points deputed."

She could not believe she was letting this happen. What was it about these boys that made her lose her judgment?

"We promise," Remus said.

Lily watched on as the four boys left.

"Can we have a moment?" James asked Madame Pomfrey as they exited the castle.

"Quickly. You three shouldn't even be out here," she said.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Peter replied.

James and Peter got the three the animals they had captured.

"Good luck," Sirius said.

"Hopefully these animals survive," Peter told Remus.

"Yeah, so do I," he agreed. The last thing Remus wanted was to wake up tomorrow to find he had killed and eaten three harmless animals. "See you tomorrow."

"The three of you need to get back to Gryffindor tower before you get caught," Madame Pomfrey told them.

The three boys turned in shock. Hopefully see had not seen Remus with the three animals.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Peter said.

xxx

December 11, 1975

Lily walked into the common and found James, Sirius, and Peter sitting on the couch.

"What were the four of you really up to last night?" she asked.

"We told you it was just a walk," James said.

Lily was surprised that he did not have anything else to say on the matter. She then noticed someone was missing.

"Yes, but…Where's Remus?" she asked.

"Well, he's… um," Peter began, looking at James and Sirius for help.

"Still in bed," Sirius finished.

"He'll tell me what you were really up to," Lily said, and began making her way up the stairs.

"You don't to do that," James told her as he got up.

"And why not?" Lily asked.

She turned and put her hands on her hips.

"He came down with something. It must have been the cold night air," Sirius said.

"Yeah, he went to the hospital wing," Peter finished.

"I told you you'd get caught," Lily said with a laugh.

James also laughed as he walked up to Lily.

"You see, Lily. There's this thing called lying. Madam Pomfrey believed our story that Remus had woken up feeling ill," he told her.

"You will get caught sooner or later," she said, eyes leveled.

With that, she walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"That was a close one," Peter whispered.

"We really need to a way to become invisible," Sirius said.

Later on that day, the three went to the hospital wing to visit Remus.

"How are you feeling?" Peter asked as he sat at the edge of the bed.

Remus surprisingly smiled as he sat up.

"Eat any rare meat last night?" Sirius asked.

"You won't believe it," Remus said, he smile still wide, "but they survived."

"Brilliant," James replied.

"When I woke up, they were sleeping by the window," Remus said.

xxx

January 11, 1975

The students had just gotten back from Christmas holidays. Sirius was still going on about the gift James had received.

"I still don't believe it," he repeated for the hundredth time.

"I know, but there it was waiting for me Christmas morning," James said.

James's father had given it to him, just like his father had.

"Want to give it a test run?" Sirius asked.

Remus just rolled his eyes as Peter looked on in aw.

"I thought you'd never ask," Sirius said.

James threw the cloak around him and Sirius. Remus's and Peter's eyes grew as they disappeared.

"Check out us, in the mirror," James said.

"There are no us," Sirius gasped.

"That's the point," Remus replied, as if he was not impressed.

"Brilliant," Peter said.

"Let's go," James told Sirius.

Remus began to protest, but then he realized he did not know what way to argue at. He was not sure James and Sirius were still at the mirror.

"Where do you want to go first?" Sirius asked as they walked out the portrait entrance.

"The library," James suggested.

"We'll have Madam Pince pulling out her hair," Sirius said, laughing so hard that James had to cover his mouth so that no one would hear him.

Then James saw something that made him stop.

"Look at that," he told Sirius.

Sirius looked James's way and spotted Lily and Severus talking.

"And…" he began.

"I thought she wasn't speaking to him anymore," James said.

"Well, I guess they made up or something," Sirius replied.

He did not care as much as James did who Lily had for friends.

xxx

January 12, 1975

James decided he was going to confront Lily about what he had seen with Sirius.

"I thought you weren't friends with Snape anymore," he said.

Lily gave him a curious look. She had no idea how he found out.

"What's it to you?" she asked.

James could not believe what he was hearing.

"Remember what he did to Mary?" he asked.

Lily glanced down. Her best friend, Mary, and been attacked by some of Severus's friends and had just gotten out of the hospital wing.

"He didn't do anything to Mary. It was his friends," Lily said.

"Still," James replied.

"James, he knows perfectly well I'll never forget," Lily said.

"We won't you go out with me, Evans?" James asked, out of the blue.

"Your maturity level is that of an eleven year old, that's why," Lily told him as she walked away.

xxx

March 4, 1975

Sirius and James were out by the lake with books all around them.

"Are you going to be fine alone?" James asked.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "Where are you heading?"

He then noticed the broom in James's hand.

"Qudditich practice," James told him.

"Right," Sirius said as he watched James leave.

Sirius returned looking through books, trying to find any information on Animigi.

"There has to be something!"

He, James, and Peter were trying to become Animigi so that they would be able to be around Remus in his werewolf form. Sirius lay down and closed his eyes. He began to imagine what kind of animal he would be. A tongue then began to lick his cheek. His body came up off the ground quickly. Sirius looked down and saw the owner of the tongue. It was ginger cat with a flat face.

"Hello there," he said. It started to purr as he stroked it. "Who's your owner?"

"I am," a familiar voice answered.

Sirius looked up and saw Lily.

"Lily," he said in shock, making her laugh.

"Was he bothering you, Sirius?" she asked.

"No," he said.

With that, she took her cat in her arms and walked away.


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 19

May 20, 1975

James and Sirius came running into the boys' dormitory where they found Remus, nose in a book.

"Remus," James yelled, trying to get his attention.

Remus glanced at him, and then returned to his book. He and Lily were made Prefects, but he was not really doing anything to keep his friends from getting in trouble.

"Not now, James," he said, looking annoyed. "I'm studying for our Transfiguration O.W.L.s."

Sirius pulled the book away from Remus.

"Remus, we did it," he said.

"Did what exactly?" he asked.

"We became Anamigi," James said.

Remus's eyes widened. He thought maybe he was hearing things.

"Really?" he asked.

"Sure did," Sirius said proudly.

Peter then walked in with his head down and arms crossed.

"You're not happy about this, Peter?" Remus asked.

"Oh, he is. He just doesn't like what he turns into," James said with a laugh.

"What's that?" Remus asked.

Peter sighed as he looked at Remus and replied, "I'm a rat."

"A rat?" Remus asked.

"Yeah. Whereas Sirius's a big black dog and James's a stag," Peter said sadly.

xxx

May 21, 1975

Peter gasped a he sat up in bed. He was thankful that no one had woken up.

"What's my problem?" he asked out loud.

He got out of bed and looked out the window.

"These nightmares need to stop," Peter whispered.

He raised his hand and put it on the glass.

xxx

September 15, 1975

Madame Pomfrey had stopped taking Remus to the Whomping Willow, so she had no clue Remus was being joined by James, Sirius, and Peter.

"Well, here we are," James said

James, Sirius, and Peter looked around the room Remus slept in once a month.

"How did I ever let you talk me into this?" Remus asked.

"We didn't talk you into anything," Sirius answered. "We volunteered."

"Okay, well, you better do it now," Remus said.

xxx

September 16, 1975

Remus had just been released from the hospital wing.

"Last night was brilliant," James said as they walked through corridors.

Severus stopped to listen in.

"It might be exciting to you now. But believe me; you'll get bored with it after a while," Remus said.

James, Sirius, and Peter just laughed.

"I doubt it," Peter said.

"So, we all agree that last night was a success?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," they all replied, Remus a little late.

They all stopped when Severus walked in front of them.

"What, may I ask, was such a success?" he asked.

"None of your business, Snivulus," James said.

"We'll see about that," Severus replied.

Remus had his head down as they began walking again.

"We shouldn't have been saying anything," he said.

xxx

September 17, 1975

As Lily was on her way back to Gryffindor Tower, she ran into Severus. He had been trying to get her alone so he could talk to her.

"Lily, I'm glad we met," Severus said.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You really need to keep your friends in check," Severus said.

Lily leveled her eyebrows.

"Who are you talking about?" she asked.

"Potter and his gang," Severus answered.

"And what exactly are you accusing them are doing?" Lily asked.

Severus had to stop himself for a moment. For the first time, she did not say she was not friends with them.

"They snuck out last night. I overheard them talking about it," Severus said.

"And since when have you cared if they get in trouble?" Lily asked.

"I don't care," Severus said defensively. "I was thinking of you. Being a Prefect with Lupin and everything."

"You're right," Lily replied with a sigh. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll talk to Remus. He should know better."

xxx

September 18, 1975

Lily was able to get Remus alone on the common room.

"Remus, we need to talk," she said.

Remus lowered his book and looked stared at Lily.

"About what?" he asked.

"I've been informed that you, James, Sirius, and Peter were out after hours," Lily said.

Remus's eyes grew. He should have known this would happen.

"Who… never mind, I already know who told you," he said. "Lily, listen, it was nothing. Everything was under control."

"So, you're attending to it?" she asked.

"Yes," Remus answered.

James, who had overheard, ran down the stairs.

"Remus," he gasped.

"I can't lie," he said.

"Why would you do something like that?" Lily asked.

He was about to say it, but the words would not not come out. He had admitted that they were out after hours, and was enough for now.

"I… I can't tell you," Remus said. Lily shock her head and left. "I'm going to have to eventually have to tell her."

"Why?" James asked.

"Well, if you two ever do get together, I think it's too big of a secret not to keep," Remus said, walking up the stairs.

James looked up the stairs in shock with his mouth opened.


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 20 The Worst Name

March 15, 1976

All the fifth years were walking into the Great Hall, which had been modified for their O.W.L.s.

"Are you ready for the exam?" Remus asked.

They were taking their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.s today.

"You may be," Peter said.

Professor Flitwick was conducting the exam they found out as he entered the Great Hall.

Before they knew it, the tiny professor was yelling, "Five minutes!"

James jumped up as Professor Flitwick passed him. He turned in his seat after yawning and messing with his hair. Sirius gave him two thumbs up. James turned back around and began drawing on his paper. He created a Snitch and the letters L.E. Lily Evans seemed to be on his mind lately.

"Quills down, please!" All the pieces of parchment flew into Professor Flitwick's waiting arms as he said, "Accio!"

James quickly crossed out the L.E. as Professor Flitwick said they could leave.

"Did you like question ten, Moony?" Sirius asked as he and James caught up with Remus and Peter.

Moony was the nickname they had given Remus. James was Prongs, Sirius was Padfoot, and Peter was Wormtail.

"Loved it. 'Give five signs that identify the werewolf'. Excellent question," Remus replied sarcastically.

"Do you think you managed to get all the signs?" James asked.

"Think I did. One: He's sitting on my chair. 2: He's wearing my clothes. 3: His name's Remus Lupin…" Remus said.

James and Sirius laughed, but Peter did not.

"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the tufted tail, but I couldn't think what else…" Peter said.

"How think are you, Wormtail?" James asked. "You run round with a werewolf once a month…"

"Keep your voice down," Remus snapped.

They, as well as many of the others went outside by the lake.

"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," Sirius said. "I'll be surprise if I don't get Outstanding on it at least."

"Me, too," James replied, pulling out a Snitch.

"Where did you get that?" Remus asked.

"Nicked it," James said.

"Put that away, will you?" Sirius asked. "Before Wormtail wets himself from excitement."

"If it bothers you," James said.

He shoved the Snitch back in his pocket.

"I'm bored. Wish it was full moon," Sirius said with a sigh.

"You might," Remus replied. "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored, you could test me… Here."

Sirius wrinkled his nose and threw the paper back at Remus.

"I don't need to look t that rubbish, I know it all," he declared.

"This will liven you up, Padfoot. Look who it is…" James said.

Sirius look towards where James was and smiled.

"Excellent. Snivellus," Sirius called.

"All right, Snivellus?" James asked as Severus put his O.W.L paper in his bag.

Severus quickly dropped his bag and pulled out his wand, but halfway, James yelled, "_Expelliamus_!"

His wand flew out of his hand.

"_Impedimenta_," Sirius yelled.

Severus was knocked off his feet.

"How did the exam go, Snivelly?" James asked.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment. There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word," Sirius said.

People started to laugh.

"You wait. You wait…" Severus said.

"Wait for what?" Sirius asked. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Severus made cursing under his breath, wishing he hand his wand in his hand.

"Wash out your mouth. _Scourgify,_" James yelled.

"Leave him alone," a familiar voice commanded.

James and Sirius turned and so Lily behind them.

"All right, Evans?" James asked.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated again. "What's he done to you?"

"Well, it's more the fact that he, exists, if you know what I mean…" James began, but stopped as Lily got right up in his face.

"You think you're funny. But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone," Lily said.

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," James replied. "Go on… Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

Sirius covered his mouth, trying not to laugh. Remus just shook his head and acted like nothing was happening.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," Lily said.

"Bad luck, Prongs," Sirius replied. He turned back to Severus. "Oy!"

A gash suddenly appeared on the side of James's face. He looked down, seeing the blood had also gotten on his robes. Severus was then hanging upside down in the air.

"Let him down," Lily yelled.

"Certainly," James said. "_Locomotormortis_!"

Severus then became very stiff.

"Leave him alone," Lily shouted.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," James said.

"Take the curse off him, then," Lily yelled.

James reluctantly obliged.

"There you go, you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus," he said.

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her," Severus yelled.

Lily gasped.

"Fine. I won't bother in the future," she said. "And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."

James pointed his wand at Severus and yelled, "Apologize to Evans!"

"I don't want you to make him apologize," Lily snapped. "You're as bad as he is…"

"What?" James asked in shock. "I'd never call you a… you-know-what!"

"Messing your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can. I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me sick," Lily said.

She turned and started running away.

"Evans! Hey, Evans," James called after her, but she never turned. "What is it with her?"

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," Sirius said.

"Right, right… Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?" James asked.

As he raised his wand, a throat cleared, which made him stop.

"Potter, Black, with me," Professor McGonagall said.

xxx

March 16, 1976

"Lily."

"What is it, Mary?"

"That Snape kid's here, and he wants to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to him."

"He says he'll sleep on the ground if he must."

"Oh, all right."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not interested."

"I'm sorry!"

"Save your breath. I only came out her because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just…"

"Slipped out? It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and you precious little Death Eater friends… you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you? I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."

"No, listen, I didn't mean…"

"…to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

xxx

April 3, 1976

James noticed Lily was in the common room as he walked down the stairs.

"Evans…" he started to say, but she put her hand up.

"Don't bother, Potter," Lily said.

She stopped as James got in front of her.

"Please, just let me…" James began, but she walked past him.

"She's still not talking to you?" Sirius asked.

"No," James answered with a sigh.

"Come on," Sirius said, throwing an arm around him. "Don't let her get our head Marauder down."

"Marauder?" James asked. And then he smiled. "I like that."

xxx

April 4, 1976

The boys were getting ready for the day when something came to James.

"We need a map," he said.

"A what?" Peter asked, wondering if he had heard James correctly.

"A map," James repeated.

"Of what?" Sirius asked as he pulled his robes over his clothes.

"Of the castle," James replied.

Remus looked at them, a little shocked. It was amazing how he had though of the same thing. Then again, they had been friends since they were eleven.

"I've actually been working on something like that," Remus replied.

"You're brilliant, you are, Moony," James said.

xxx

April 5, 1976

Lily gave a frustrated as Severus came up to her in the hallway.

"Lily…" he began to say.

"I don't want to talk to you, Severus," she replied.

Remus, who noticed this exchange, nervously walked up to Lily as Severus left.

"Are you still talking to me?" he asked.

"Of course I am, Remus," Lily said with a laugh. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I didn't really try to stop James and Sirius from attacking Snape," he told her.

Lily looked down for a moment. This was true, but then she realized something.

"It doesn't matter. If I was mad at you, I'd still be talking to you because of us being Prefects."

AN:

I just want to add that most of this chapter was taking from Chapter 28 Snape's Worst Memory from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.


	21. Chapter 21

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 21 The Move In

July 30, 1976

Sirius was once again having a fight with his parents. His mother, Walburga, and his father, Orion, were once again stressing to him the importance of becoming a Death Eater.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I don't like being in his hell hole anyway," Sirius yelled.

Sirius ran up to his bedroom and immediately opened his trunk. He then glanced up at his walls and smiled. Those photos of Muggle women and bikes were never coming down with that permanent sticking charm he used.

"I don't want to talk," Sirius called as he heard a knock on his door.

"Even to your brother?" Regulus asked.

Sirius's gray eyes fell as his brother walked int o the room.

"Reg…" he began.

"You're leaving?" Regulus asked, noticing the trunk.

"I wish our paths were on the same road," Sirius said.

Regulus looked down.

"Be safe," he replied.

"You too," Sirius said.

When he finished packing, there was only place Sirius knew he go.

xxx

July 31, 1976

Sirius walked up to the Potter's doorstep. James's eyes grew when he opened the door.

"Sirius…" he began.

"Is it all right if I stay with you?" he asked. "I kind of need a place to stay."

James's parents then walked up began their son.

"Sirius…" Mr. Potter began.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," he replied.

"Mum, Dad, Sirius ran away from home. You think he could stay?" James asked.

Sirius just stared at James. It sometimes amazed him how they knew what so going on with one another without having to say a word.

"Yes , dear. Of, course," Mrs. Potter replied.

"Thank you," Sirius said.

James smiled and helped Sirius with his trunk.

xxx

August 1, 1976

Sirius yawned and sat up. When he opened his eyes, h noticed that he was not in his bedroom. He looked around and realized he was in James's room.

"James," Sirius said as he woke up.

"How did you sleep last night?" he asked.

"All right I guess. I had this mental dream I ran away from home and came to live with you," Sirius replied with a laugh.

"Um, Sirius…" James began, eying the trunk at the foot of Sirius's bed.

Sirius gasped when he saw it.

"Oh, God," he said. Sirius got up and walked around James's bedroom. "I actually did it."

James got up and put both hands on Sirius shoulders to calm him.

"I can go with you if you want to go back," he told him.

Sirius surprisingly smiled and shook his head.

"Hell, no! Besides, Mummy dearest has probably already burned me off the family tapestry," he said.

"The what?" James asked.

"In one of the rooms, the wall's full of our family portraits. Whenever a family member does something that's disloyal to the Black name, they get burned off the wall. Like they didn't even exist," Sirius said.

James's eyes grew in shock. He knew his parents were something else, but to disown their own child?

"Your mum wouldn't…" James began.

"Oh, yeah, she would," Sirius replied. "My Aunt Andromeda's portrait's burned because she married a Muggle-born."


	22. Chapter 22

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 22 Joke Gone Wrong

September 19, 1976

Sirius and Peter were in the library looking at Charms books for Flitwick's class when an idea came to Sirius.

"Sirius, what is it?" Peter asked. "You're getting that look in your eye."

"Wormtail, I think I know how to get old Snivellus finally off our hands," he said.

"What's the plan?" Peter asked as they walked out of the library.

Sirius leaned in and whispered it in Peter's ear.

"Brilliant," Peter said.

"I thought so," Sirius replied.

xxx

September 20, 1976

By the time Sirius and Peter had got back to the common room from the library, James and Remus were in bed. It was now early the next morning.

"Have I got some news for the two of you," Sirius said.

"What is it, Prongs?" James asked.

"If it's about getting at Snape, I don't want to be involved," Remus said.

Sirius and James looked over at Remus and laughed.

"Then don't listen, Moony," Sirius replied.

"So, what's up?" James asked.

Sirius glanced over at Remus for a moment.

"The full moon's coming up soon, right?" he asked.

"Yes," Remus answered.

Even though he did not want to, Remus could not help but listen.

"I say we play a joke on our dear friend, Snape," Sirius said.

"What's your plan?" James asked.

"I say let Snape overhear our plans on going to the Shrieking Shack. When he shows up, he'll get the surprise of his life," Sirius said.

"Brilliant," James replied.

Remus had already left, forcing himself to leave.

xxx

September 21, 1976

Severus gasped when he saw Lily and Mary in the corridors.

"Lily," he called. She just continued walking with Mary. "Lily, please, I need to tell you something."

She sighed and finally turned to Severus.

"If you insist," Lily said, and then turned back to Mary. "I'll meet you in the library."

Mary only nodded and walked off.

"Thank you," Severus said.

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"It's Potter and his gang," Severus replied.

Lily gave a frustrated sigh and replied, "Not that again."

"I'm telling you the truth. Something's not right about that Lupin," Severus said.

"He's ill," Lily told him. "They say he's ill."

At least that what Lily was convincing herself.

xxx

September 22, 1976

Sirius gave the cue to Peter. Severus was was a row began them.

"So, Wormtail, remember about tomorrow night, and don't tell anyone," Sirius whispered loudly to Peter.

"I never do," Peter retorted.

"You're getting the snacks this time, right?" Sirius asked.

"Right," Peter nodded.

"All right, just remember to be at the Whomping Willow by midnight," Sirius said.

Sirius snickered as they saw Severus walking from the other aisle.

"You think he heard?" Peter asked.

"I'm counting on it," Sirius said with a laugh.

xxx

Remus gave a nervous looked at Sirius and James as they reached the Whomping Willow.

"We'll catch up with you when Peter gets here," Sirius said.

Remus knew he was planning something, but something told him just to leave it be.

"Okay," he replied.

James and Sirius gasped when they heard the breaking of twigs under someone's trainers.

"Did you hear that?" James asked.

"Quick, hide," Sirius said.

They picked through the bushes they had hidden in as the footsteps grew closer.

"It's Snape," James whispered.

"He's going in," Sirius said, a dark smile on his face.

James then realized this was not a good idea whatsoever.

"Oh, no," he gasped, he jumped out of the bushes and started towards the Whomping Willow.

"What do you mean? You thought this was a brilliant plan," Sirius said.

James had in the beginning, but now he had his doubts. He did not want anybody dieing, even Snape.

"What if he gets killed?" James asked.

Sirius lowered his eyebrows.

"So what if he does?" he asked.

James grew in horror. Never would he imagine Sirius this heartless.

"Do you really what that to be on Remus's conscious?" James asked as he got in Sirius face.

Sirius had to take a step back. James saw the realization in Sirius eyes after a moment.

"No, of course I don't," Sirius said.

With that, James took out his wand and entered the Whomping Willow.

"Snape? Snape," James called.

"What, Potter?" Severus asked.

James sighed in relief. Severus had not gotten to the door yet.

"Please, come back with me," he said.

"And pass up the chance to find out what you've been up to?" Severus asked with a laugh. "I don't think so."

"Snape, don't," James yelled as Severus reached for the door to the room where Remus stayed.

"_Alohamora,_" Severus said, pointing his wand at the door, which been to open.

James pulled Severus and closed the door and relocked it before Remus, in his werewolf form, could attack.

"You were going to let that thing kill me," Severus gasped as he fell to the floor in shock.

"No," James tried to explain. Severus got up and pointed hi wand at James. "_Pertificus Totalus_!"

Sirius gasped when he saw Severus's body on the floor

"James…" he began to say, but James out him off, saying, "We need to get him to Dumbledore's office."

"What?" Sirius asked in shock. "No, we can't!"

They would get expelled if any of the professors, especially Dumbledore or McGongall found out about this.

"What other choice do we have?" James asked through greeted teeth.

"I'm sorry," Sirius apologized.

James gave him a blank look as he picked up Severus with a flick of his wand.

"It's over with now," he said.

"What happened?" Peter asked with his hand full of things from Honeydukes.

"Later," Sirius said.

xxx

September 26, 1976

The next morning, James was sitting on the couch in the common room when Lily walked in front on him. For the first time in his life he regretted what he had done.

"James Potter, you tell me what happened last night," Lily demanded.

"How did you…" he began to say as he got up and headed out the portrait hole, Lily behind him, but then he remembered the Severus was sent to the hospital wing.

"I was visiting Mary is the hospital wing. Severus was going on and on how you did something to him last night because he doesn't remember what happened," Lily explained.

"Yeah, about that…" James began to say, but he stopped but when Professor Dumbledore appeared in front of them.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter saved Mr. Snape's life last night," Dumbledore said.

Lily looked at James in shock.

"You what?" she asked.

"I was trying to tell you," he said.

"You hate him. Why on Earth would try to save him?" Lily asked.

"I admit, I hate the bloody git,' James said, giving a nervous look towards the headmaster, "but I wouldn't wish death on anyone, even him."


	23. Chapter 23

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 23 Dark Hall

November 10, 1976

Mary looked over at Lily, who was eying Severus.

"Lily, what's the matter?" Mary asked.

"What? Oh, it's nothing," she replied.

Mary then so Lily take another look at Severus.

"I thought you had stopped talking to that Snape git," Mary said.

"I have," Lily told Mary.

"Not by the way you were looking at him right now," Mary noted.

Lily sighed. She had to tell herself that Mary was concerned about her.

"He's acting off," Lily said.

"And that concerns you because…" Mary began.

"You're right. It doesn't matter what he's doing," Lily replied.

With that, they walked off without a glance back.

xxx

November 11, 1976

James was walking through the corridors at night. Sirius did not want to go with him. He immediately regretted not using his invisibility cloak when he knocked into someone.

"James?" the familiar voice asked.

"Lily," he gasped.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Couldn't sleep," James replied. "How about you?"

"Just patrolling. You really shouldn't be out here," Lily said.

"Yes, I know," James replied with a sigh. "Old habits die hard I suppose."

They both gasped as they heard a noise.

"Do you hear that?" Lily asked.

"It's coming from over there," James said, pointing.

They tip-toed their way to the end of the corridor.

"I don't believe it," Lily said.

Out of the darkness came Regulus and Severus.

"I can," James said.

"What do you think he and Sirius's brother are talking about?" Lily asked.

"Oh, come on, Lily. You know as well as I do what they're talking about," James said.

Lily sigh, knowing he was right.

"Sirius is going to be heart broken," she said, letting her head fall. "I'll talk to Snape."

"But, Lily…" James began.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt me."

xxx

November 13, 1976

Lily ran up to James in the common room.

"Have you told them him yet?" she asked.

James shook his head and replied, "I haven't gotten the chance. You?"

"No," Lily answered.

They both became quiet as Sirius walked up to them.

"What's this?" he asked.

"We're just talking," James said.

"We'll talk later," Lily told James, and she walked away.

Sirius laughed and slapped James's shoulder.

"We'll that seems promising," he said.

"I only wish it was on different circumstances," James admitted.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know how to tell you this," James said with a sigh.

"Tell me what?" Sirius asked.

He followed James to the couch and they sat.

"Lily and I caught your brother talking to Snape the other night," James said.

Sirius looked into the fire for a moment.

"So, he's joined that gang of Death Eaters," he said, his voice not sounding surprised.

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, Sirius," James apologized.

"It was going to happen sooner or later," he said.

xxx

November 15, 1976

Lily took a deep breath as she spotted Severus. This was her best chance to talk to him.

"Severus," she called.

"Lily," he gasped, turning in shock.

"How have you been?" she asked.

For a moment, Severus thought he was dreaming. Was Lily seriously talking to him?

"I've been fine. You?" he asked.

"I'm good. Listen, about that group you're in…" Lily began, but she stopped when Severus made a noise and replied, "And here I thought you wanted to be friends again."

"Severus, please," Lily begged. "You can't just pull Sirius's brother into that… that… I can't even say it."

"He wanted to be in it," Severus said defensively.

Lily have Severus a disgusted look, which made him take a step back.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

Lily went running into the common room.

"Lily, what is it?" James asked, running up to her.

"We were right," she said.

"Regulus has joined the Death Eaters?" James asked.

"Yes," Lily nodded.

xxx

December 1, 1976

Remus looked at himself in the mirror. He looked older, no, he was older.

"Remus," a woman's voice called to him.

Remus turned and smiled at the woman. This woman was very much pregnant.

"How's the baby?" Remus asked, placing his hands on her belly.

"He's doing great."

Remus placed a hand on the woman's stomach.

"He's strong," he noticed as he felt the baby kick.

"Just like his daddy," the woman said with a laugh.

"Just hope he doesn't take too much from me," Remus replied with a sigh.

xxx

December 2, 1976

Remus gasped as he woke up from his dream.

"Remus, are you all right?" James asked as Sirius also woke up.

"Yeah, you look like you haven't gotten any sleep," Sirius noted.

"Had a nightmare?" James asked.

Remus glanced over at Peter, who had stayed asleep.

"It wasn't like that. It just left me thinking," he replied.

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"I had a wife, and she was pregnant," Remus said.

James yawned and stretched out as he replied, "Doesn't sound weird to me."

"I guess it's just making me think because I've never given much thought of a family," Remus said.

He figured with his condition, he would never be able to have normal life that involved a wife and kids. Kids that might possibly inherit his condition.

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, come on. What woman would have me with my being what I am?" Remus wondered.

"Well, apparently that woman in your dream does. You just need to find her now," James said.

His head was already back on his pillow with his eyes closed.


	24. Chapter 24

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 24 Closer

February 17, 1977

Sirius paced around the common room. He had stayed with James last summer, but he was not sure if that invitation was going to be offered this time around.

"James, are you sure your parents don't mind my staying?" Sirius asked.

"You've been living with us for almost a year now, and they haven't kicked you out yet," James said with a laugh.

"Maybe I should look for a flat," Sirius suggested.

He hated being a burden, but of course James said he was not.

"With what money?" James asked.

Sirius looked away for a moment. He had not told what his uncle had done for him.

"My Uncle Alphard left me money," Sirius explained.

"The family must not have been happy about that," James said.

"No, he was disowned for doing it, but he didn't care. He was glad I ran for it when I did," Sirius replied. James then stopped. "What is it?"

"Lily's crying," James said.

Sirius took hold of James's arm as he took step.

"No, don't," he said.

"And why the bloody hell not?" James asked.

"Just let her get over it today, and then confront her about it tomorrow," Sirius said.

xxx

February 18, 1977

James had waited, even though he did not want to. When he saw Lily that next morning, he walked up to her.

"Lily…" he began.

"James," she gasped.

"Sorry," he apologized.

Lily sighed and looked down.

"It's all right. I've just had things on my mind," she said.

"You want to talk about it?" James asked, noticing the piece of parchment in her hands.

"It's my sister, Petunia. She's getting married," Lily said.

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?" James asked.

He would have thought that Lily would be happy for her sister. Sure, he could remember the very first time he met her she was crying to Severus saying her sister acted her, but he though they had made up.

"Not when you haven't been invited," Lily said.

James gave her a confused look. That letter in her hands was not a invitation?

"She did not," James said.

"My mum's the one that had to tell me. She's trying to get Petunia to change her mind, but…" Lily began, but she could not finish.

James placed a hand on Lily's shoulder.

"You have people here that care for you," he told her.

"Yeah?" Lily asked.

"Yes, you have Mary for one," James said.

She gave a laugh.

"She seems more interested in her boyfriend, Frank, nowadays," Lily said.

"There's also Remus, Sirius, Peter, and…" James began, but he got cut off when Lily asked, "And who?"

James took a deep breath, trying to muster the courage to say what he wanted to say.

"And me," he finally said. Lily snorted. "It's true. I may act like an arse, but that's because I don't know how else to act. You don't know how hard it is for me to talk to you normally."

"Really?" Lily asked.

James nodded. Lily bit her lip and leaned in closer. They looked at their lips for a moment before James finished the distance. Lily touched her mouth as they parted.

"I'm sorry," James apologized.

"I'm not," Lily said.

They smiled and stood there in silence for a moment.

"Good night, Lily," James said.

xxx

February 19, 1977

James and Lily hardly looked at each other after what had happened.

"Are you and Lily all right?" Remus asked.

James looked over at Remus and nodded.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

"You two have been avoiding each other all day," Sirius noticed.

"Really?" James asked, acting like he had not been aware of it.

He stopped when they got in front of him.

"What happened?" Remus demanded.

"Nothing," James told them defensively.

"Whatever you say," Sirius said.

Later on that day, James caught up with Lily. He had to talk to her and figure out what was going to happen next.

"We need to talk about last night," James said.

"If you want to pretend like nothing happened, I wouldn't blame you," Lily replied.

"What makes you say that?" James asked.

Then he remembered how he had reacted, and he realized why she had not talked to him all day.

"You ran upstairs like it had been a mistake or something," Lily said, almost yelling it out.

James looked down, not blaming her for being mad at him.

"Again, another example of how I don't know how to act around you," he explained, hoping she would understand.

"What do you expect to happen now?" Lily asked.

"I really don't know," James replied with a sigh.

"I say we give it some time before we… decide anything," Lily said.

"All right," James nodded.

xxx

February 20, 1977

Sirius walked up to James in the Gryffindor common room, who was sitting in the corner, apparently reading. By the looks of it, though, James was on another planet.

"James." James didn't turn. "James," Sirius yelled this time.

"Wh… what?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Welcome back," Sirius said with a laugh.

"Sorry," James apologized.

"Care to talk about what really happened between you and Lily?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, I think I blew it with her," James admitted.

"What did you do?" he asked in an sarcastic tone.

He knew that James tended to over react when it came to Lily.

"I kissed her," James said.

Sirius now looked even more confused. Why would he think kissing the girl he wanted to since he laid eyes on her be considered blowing it?

"Um… I wouldn't call that blowing it," Sirius told James.

"She wants time to think about what happened," James replied.

"That's not really a bad thing," Sirius said with another laugh.

xxx

March 22, 1977

Remus gasped as he sat up in bed.

"Remus?" James asked.

"Sorry," he apologized.

Remus sat up and yawned.

"Come on, we need to go," Sirius said.

Remus gasped and jumped out of bed.

"Why did you let me go to sleep knowing it was a full moon?" he asked.

"We thought you needed to get some rest before," Peter replied.

As they walked out into the grounds and towards the Whomping Willow, Remus thought about the dream he had been having. It had been about the woman, only this time, he was holding her dead body in his arms.

xxx

March 24, 1977

Lily walked up to Remus. She knew something was going on, and she was not going to leave him until he told her.

"It's time to come clean," Lily said.

"About what?" Remus asked, though he knew deep down what that was.

"Please don't act like that with me, Remus. Tell me where you went last night," Lily begged, but also managing to sound demanding at the same time.

"I… I can't," Remus replied.

"And why, may I ask, can't you?" Lily asked.

Remus shut his eyes tightly.

"If I did, you'd run," he told her.

"Try me," Lily said.

Remus opened his mouth, and for a moment, he thought he might let the words out, but he closed it for a moment.

"Not right now," he finally said. "I'm not ready for you to know. I'm sorry."

Remus told the others of his conversation with Lily as he entered the boys' dormitory.

"Are you going to tell her?" Peter asked.

Remus shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I don't know. Should I?"

"That's not for us to decide," Sirius said.

James, for the first time, remained silent. He had not given much thought to the idea of Lily knowing about Remus.

"I'm just scared she'll run from me," Remus said with a sigh as he sat on his bed.

"We didn't," Sirius reminded him.

"If you want, we can be with you when you tell her," Peter said.

Remus looked up and smiled.

xxx

March 26, 1977

Remus took a deep breath as he spotted Lily sitting in a chair in the common room. He knew he was doing the right thing by telling her the truth. Lily looked up at Remus as he cleared his throat.

"Lily, I've been giving it some thought, and I think you should know why I left," Remus said.

"Okay," Lily calmly replied.

"Once a month, I go into the Whomping Willow, and I turn into a werewolf," Remus said in a very low whisper. Lily didn't say a word. "Lily, are you all right?"

"I just wasn't expecting that," she finally replied after a moment.

"You're not running," Remus realized.

He was caught be surprise as Lily then laughed.

"Of course I'm not," she said.

Lily then took Remus in her arms.

"I'm so sorry. I know it must've been hard telling me. It's not like you asked for this," she said.

"No, I didn't," Remus agreed.

xxx

April 2, 1977

James looked up as Lily walked up to him in the common room. He had surprisingly been studying.

"James, can I talk to you?" Lily asked.

"Sure," he said.

When he did not get up, Lily added, "In private?"

James's eyes grew. He did not know what to think.

"Of course," he said.

They exited the portrait hole and walked out of the castle and sat underneath a tree by the lake.

"What did you want o talk about?" James asked, now really wondering why Lily needed to come all the way out to the lake.

"Us," Lily replied.

"Oh," James said.

"I've been giving it a lot of thought, and I think we can work," Lily told him.

"Really?" James asked, trying his best to act like a girl and jump and down.

"Yes," Lily said.

This time, it was Lily that kissed first, leaving James shocked. The kisses grew deeper as they now were lying on the grass.


	25. Chapter 25

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 25 Shift in Attitude

September 25, 1977

Sirius, James, and Remus had noticed Peter was acting a bit off lately.

"What's up with Wormtail?" Sirius asked.

"I think the whole idea of there being a war is starting to get to him," James said.

Lord Voldemort was becoming more and more of a treat. Many people and been killed or were now in hiding.

"I feel bad for him sometimes," Remus admitted.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," James said.

They had no idea where Peter was at the moment.

"So, James, how does it feel to be Head Boy?" Remus asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Great, but I don't understand why Dumbledore chose me," he said. He thought for sure Remus would get it. "I wasn't a Prefect. It should have been you."

Then something came to Sirius. "Remus, did you…"

"What?" he asked definitively.

James's eyes grew when he realized what Sirius was trying to get at.

"Did you tell Dumbledore to give it to James?" Sirius asked.

'No! I'm just as shocked as you are," Remus said.

"Remus?" James asked.

Remus sighed. James's voice told him that would not be mad if he had told Dumbledore.

"Of course, I didn't. Though I will admit if Dumbledore would have wanted to make me Head Boy, I would have turned him down," Remus said.

"Why?" James asked.

"I just don't think I'd be the best person for the job," Remus admitted sheepishly.

Sirius laughed and threw an arm around Remus.

"Of course, you would be," he said.

xxx

September 28, 1977

Neither Sirius nor Regulus had really spoken to each other since Sirius had run away.

"Reg," Sirius gasped.

In that moment, he realized how long it had been. A year seemed to have gone by so fast.

"Sirius…" Regulus began.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm all right," Regulus replied.

He then twitched a little and pulled on his left sleeve.

"What was that for?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," Regulus replied.

"I might not live with you anymore, but you're still by brother. I know when something's bothering you," Sirius said.

Regulus step back as Sirius tried to step closer to him.

"I said it's nothing," he snapped, causing Sirius to stop.

"Reg…" Sirius began in shock.

"Leave me be," Regulus yelled.

James watched as Regulus stormed off.

"What was that about?" James asked as he walked to Sirius.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Sirius said.

xxx

September 29, 1977

James had not seen Sirius since then until now. He figured he had been following Regulus around until he retired to the Slytherin dorms.

"Have you found anything out yet?" James asked.

He and Lily were not going to let Sirius leave the Great Hall until they got answers.

"No," Sirius said.

"What are you trying to find, Sirius?" Lily asked.

"My brother acted off yesterday," he said.

"You don't suppose he…" James began to say, but Lily covered his mouth because he was being loud.

"Well, we know he wants to join You-Know-Who," Sirius said.

"Sirius, what if he already has?" James asked.

It was at this time all three of them spotted the boy in question. Sirius went running after Regulus.

"Sirius," Regulus gasped as his brother tugged him out of the Great Hall.

"Show me," he demanded.

"Sirius, have you gone mental?" Regulus asked in shock.

"I think it's you that has gone mental if you have that damn mark on your arm. Now show me," he said.

Sirius took hold of his brother's left arm.

"Please, Sirius, just let go," Regulus begged.

James and Lily were at the entrance of the Great Hall watching.

"Regulus, as your brother, please prove me wrong," Sirius said, loosening his grip.

"I'm sorry," he breathed.

Making sure no one else was watching, Regulus lifted up his left arm and exposed his forearm, which was tattooed with a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.

"Mum and Dad must be so proud," Sirius said.

Lily and James had not seen what Regulus showed Sirius, but they knew by the look of Sirius's face.

xxx

October 3, 1977

Professor Dumbledore smiled brightly when he spotted James and Lily.

"There's my Head Boy and Girl," he said.

"Hi, Professor Dumbledore," James and Lily replied.

"I wish to have a word within my office," he said.

When they walked into Dumbledore's office, Remus, Sirius, and Peter were already there.

"What's this all about?" James asked.

"You are all of age now and free to make your own decisions. I was wondering if you all would join the Order," Dumbledore said.

Their eyes grew.

"The Order of the Phoenix?" Remus asked.

He wanted to make sure he was not hearing things.

"Naturally," Dumbledore said brightly.

"Of course we're in," Sirius replied.

James than began shaking his head. For a moment, the others thought he was backing out.

"No, not Lily," James said.

Lily turned to him with a crossed look.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked.

"I'm not going to have you risking your life," James said.

Lily opened her mouth, but she did not say anything.

"Mr. Potter, I believe that's for Miss Evans to decide," Dumbledore said.

Lily bit her lip as she took James in her arms.

"Thank you, James, but I can take care of myself," she said.

xxx

October 14, 1977

James and Lily were walking down the corridor after lunch.

"I still don't like this," James said.

Lily rolled her eyes. James had made this comment every day since they had joined the Order.

"Of course you don't," Lily said, and then she gave a little laugh. "You'd rather have me at home with a baby."

"Lily…" James began, and then he realized what she had said. "What?"

Severus was around the corner in shock. He slid down the wall.

"That should be me," Severus muttered under his breath.

He lifted his left arm, pulled back his sleeve, and looked down at his Dark Mark.

AN:

I thought I told you all to tell me never to take summer classes again! Sorry for the late update, but I have been taking summer classes and it has been real time consuming. Check back with you all after Orlando. Going to the Harry Potter theme park finally!


	26. Chapter 26

_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers._

Chapter 26 The Rat

Severus was walking down a corridor when he spotted Peter. He knew what he had to do, but for some reason, he found himself not wanting to. He hated James, so why would getting one of his friends to double cross him be a bad thing?

"Wormtail," Severus called. With a nervous look, Peter turned around. "That's what they call you, isn't it?"

"Wh… what do you want?" Peter asked.

"I think you know," Severus said.

Peter began shaking his head.

"I'll never join you," he replied.

As he turned to leave, Severus took hold of Peter's arm.

"Oh yes, you will," Severus said.

"How do you know?" Peter asked in a trembling voice.

Peter took a step back as Severus walked up to his face.

"You really think your friends can save you?" Severus asked. Peter did not say anything. "No harm will come to you if you join us."

Peter took a deep breath.

"And if I don't?" he asked.

"You will die," Severus said.

Peter slid down the wall as Severus walked away.

xxx

May 7, 1978

Sirius gasped for air. He had had that prison dream before, but as real as each one felt, this one was on top. James groaned as he sat up in bed.

"Had that dream again?" James asked Sirius.

"It just feels like it's going to happen anytime now," Sirius said.

James sighed and let his head hit the pillow again.

"It's only a dream," he replied.

"I don't know about that," Sirius muttered as he did the same.

xxx

July 4, 1978

James and Lily stood in front of a small house in Godric's Hollow.

"How did I let you convince me to buy a home with you?" Lily asked.

They had now graduated from Hogwarts.

"Because you love me," James said, throwing an arm around Lily. "You're just too stubborn to admit it."

"You're right," Lily replied.

"How could you…" James began to say, but then he realized what Lily had said. "What?"

Lily laughed and kissed the arm that was still around her.

"I said you're right. I love you," she said.

"I love you too, Lily," James replied with a huge smile.

He then pulled her into a deep kiss. "Well, now that that's taken care of, there's one thing left to do…. for now."

"What's that?" Lily asked.

She gasped as James bent down on one knee and pulled out a small black box.

"Marry me," he said.

"Don't be funny, James," Lily replied, tears rolling down her face.

"I'm not. Lily Ann Evans, will you do me the honor in becoming my wife?" James asked.

"Yes," she said.

James jumped up and pulled Lily to his lips.

xxx

July 11, 1978

James and Remus were over at Sirius's flat that he had just purchased.

"Where's Lily?" Sirius asked as he hand James a Butterbeer.

"Oh, you know women. She's out trying to find some things to put in our house," James replied with a laugh.

Sirius and Remus also began laughing.

"How you got her to move in with you, I'll never know," Sirius said.

"How about you, Moony?" James asked.

Remus stopped laughing and had a surprised look on his face.

"What about me?" Remus asked.

James and Sirius glanced at each other for a moment, wondering why Remus's attitude had changed.

"Have you got a place yet?" Sirius asked.

"I'm looking for something near the woods," Remus replied.

"Do you need a place to stay in the meantime?" James asked.

Remus looked down. He did not want to be a burden on his friends.

"No, thanks. I'll stay with my Mum until then," Remus said.

"Well, you're always welcomed to stay," James replied, and Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," Remus said.

There was a moment of silence before Sirius asked, "Where's Wormtail?"

"I don't know," Remus replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I haven't heard much from him since we left school."

xxx

July 13, 1978

And like that, Remus had found himself a place to live.

"Well, that was quick," Sirius noted.

"I saw it and I just had to have it," Remus said.

Lily and James laughed as they turned to Peter.

"Where have you been, Peter?" James asked.

"Looking for a flat," he explained.

"Any luck?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, actually. I moved in yesterday," Peter said.

Sirius smiled and threw an arm around Peter.

"Good for you," he said.

Lily cleared her throat to get James's attention.

"When are you going to tell them?" she asked in a whisper.

"Soon," James promised.

Lily sighed in frustration.

"I don't know why we're waiting," she said. "For Merlin's sake, you even made me take off my ring."

"We'll have our day. Right now, it's about Remus," James replied.

Lily nodded in understanding.

xxx

July 29, 1978

James and Lily had invited Sirius, Remus, and Peter over to eat. They were going to be announcing their engagement to them.

"What's this all about?" Remus asked.

James gave a nervous laugh. Lily had to nudge him a little to draw his attention to it.

"Can't friends come over and eat a meal?" James asked.

"When it involves you... no," Sirius answered.

"It was my idea," Lily replied.

She knew James was not going to make it through this.

"I was only joking, Lily. James would do anything for you," Sirius said.

"Even if he didn't want to," Peter added.

James finally seemed to gang his composer after dinner.

"You are right though, Sirius. There is a reason why you all are here." he said.

"I knew it," Sirius replied with a laugh.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

Lily and James stood there for a moment and stared at their friends' anxious faces.

"Lily and I are getting married," James announced.

"Well, it's about time," Sirius said with a laugh.

He, Remus, and Peter all bombarded Lily and James with hugs.

"Congratulations," Remus said.

"Thanks," James replied.

Lily was now able to wear her ring again. After they had all been admiring it, something crossed Sirius's mind.

"You're not doing this because you already knocked you up, are you?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius," Remus gasped.

Lily and James did not know what to say. Lily looked like she wanted to yell, James looked a bit embarrassed.

"Just checking," Sirius said.

He looked very uncomfortable after that.

"Are you all right, Peter?" Remus asked.

They had not seen him take hold of his left arm.

"What? Oh, yes. I just forgot I need to do something. Congratulations again," Peter said.

"He's been acting rather odd lately," James noted as Peter walked out.

"I know you're not afraid, but put yourself in his shoes," Lily said defensively. "Death Eaters are looking for everyone in the Order of the Phoenix. They want to kill us, James."

xxx

Lily sighed as she climbed into bed later that night and wrapped her arms around James.

"I'm sorry about going off on you tonight, James," she apologized.

"Don't be. I know how he feels. I just don't show it," James said.

"You're scared?" Lily asked in surprised.

James smiled and pulled her closer to him and replied, "Aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Lily said. "They're going to come after me not just because I'm in the order, but I'm also a Muggle-born."

James kissed the top on Lily's head.

"I won't let anyone harm you," he vowed.

"You can't promise that," Lily said, her eyes beginning to water.

"I'll die trying," James replied.

"James..." Lily began, but her mouth was covered my James's.

"I love you, and I'll do whatever it takes to protect you," he said.

Lily smiled and gave him a quick kiss back.

"I love you too, James," she replied.

Lily laughed and wiped her eyes.

"Enough with the heavy," James said, and Lily noticed it was a little cracked. "There's something I've been wondering for a long time now."

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"What are we going to name our first child?" James wondered.

Lily blinked. Of course she had names picked out, but she was taken aback that James would want to talk about it now.

"For a girl... Rose Mary Potter," Lily said.

"Pretty," James replied, and he seemed to be genuine about it.

"If it's a boy," Lily continued, "I want to name him Harry."

"Harry what?" James asked.

Lily was having their would-be-daughter's middle name her best friend's name. He wondered what Harry's would be.

"I want him to have your name," Lily said.

James looked at her in shock.

"Harry James Potter. I love it," he said, a huge smile on his face.

"I thought you would," Lily replied, also smiling.

James leaned in and kissed Lily.

"Thank you, Lily," James said.

"For what?" she asked.

"For everything," James answered.

THE END

AN:

Well, that's a wrap on this story! I apologize for the wait. Some stuff came up and with college started back up, it's been crazy. I hope you enjoyed this!


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